Dec. 23, 1999, BCE Emergis reports that Omicron Technology
claims to have demonstrated practical satellite based
e-commerce and information services for vehicles using
GPS to locate a vehicle, sending a call back to a monitoring
station and replying via AM/FM radio frequency.
http://www.omicrontechnologies.com/
http://www.radiosat.com/
[1999/12/28]
Dec. 22, 1999, PR Newswire reports that Geoworks Corporation has
announced that it has joined "Radicchio" which is "a global
initiative to unleash the power of wireless e-commerce" based
on a Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) for secure transactions.
[1999/12/28]
Dec. 21, 1999, Scott Hillis writes for Reuters regarding 3Com's
Q2 financial report, that Palm has sold a total of more than
5 million units [presumably since the first commercial sales
of Palm Pilots], and currently, revenues for the Palm division,
rose 77 percent from a year earlier to $260.9 million [US].
[The article is not clear whether this revenue in the quarter
or for the half year.]
[1999/12/28]
Dec. 21, 1999, Canada News Wire reports that Inukshuk Internet
Inc. have begun technical trials of Cisco Systems Canada's
Multipoint Communications Systems (MCS) for delivery of high
speed internet via wireless in the 2500 MHz band using Cisco's
Vector Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (VOFDM) air
interface. Other companies involved as partners in this test
are Look Communications Inc. and Microcell Telecommunications
Inc.
http://www.inukshuk.ca/
http://wwwlook.ca/
http://www.cisco.com/ca/
[1999/12/26]
Dec. 18, 1999, PR Newswire reports that City Telecom (H.K.) Ltd.
has announced CTI Mobile Roaming Service and International Call
Forwarding Service based on a "pre-paid SIM" card which can
inserted in a cutomer's handset to have wireless services in
Australia, Canada, China, Japan, Singapore and the USA. Where
necessary, rental handsets are also available. CTI intends to
". . . slash the mobile roaming charges . . ."
http://www.ctihk.com/>
[1999/12/26]
The events surrounding my upgrading from my Mac LC630 to my latest Macintosh Performa 6360, coming only partly coincidentally with the coming of the year 2000, gave me a lot of reasons to think about the industry in general, and in particular about the current interest in Linux.
Actually, this year has shown the strongest practical arguments for "Open Source" software -- both system and application, that we could expect to see.
In general, the effect of the Y2K problem is that some old software is at the least irritating, because if you prefer to show dates in a particular way, you may not have that option. In purely esthetic terms I don't want to use programs that output the date with an "00" year. I'd rather show "2000". That's completely aside from the practical problem that some programs that use dates in calculations may give erroneous results. But if I don't have the source code, and the company is no longer supporting that program, I can't fix it.
[I haven't had time to confirm it, but my understanding is that ISO has defined a standard date format "YYYY-MM-DD". An example would be showing "Dec. 31, 2000" as "2000-12-31" Personally, I've been using "2000/12/31" as my preferred format for years.]
In the case of Quadra (68K) Macs, Y2K wasn't supposed to be an issue because the Mac date system was based on a different counting system, and for the most part it hasn't been. But over the last year, what has become an issue is the lack of support for Quadra Macs by Apple, and 3rd party program providers. The effect has been to force me to upgrade, despite the fact that my Quadra technology Mac LC630 had sufficient processor power for my needs. Within the last year, very ironically Palm Computing stopped providing upgrades for the Palm emulator for 68K Macs -- because they didn't know of any developers still using 68K Macs. Well, maybe there weren't any developers, but I'm a writer covering Palm, and I was using the Palm emulator. The latest version of a Palm program I was going to write about (Image Viewer III) wouldn't run on the last version of the Palm emulator for 68K Macs, so I was stuck. The irony is that the Palm devices are actually using 68K processors.
What finally killed the LC630 for my purposes was that Adobe Type Manager (ATM) stopped working for no apparently reason about a week ago. This may actually be some kinds of "Y2K-like" problem. Again, if I had time and source code, I might be able to fix the problem, but without the source code, and with the attitude of Adobe (they don't even provide a way of reporting bugs on their website), I decided that it's not worth my considering any kind of software patching on my own. As such I finally bought a "refurbished" Mac LC6360.
Now consider that on a contemporary 486/DX2-4 (66 - 100 MHz) box with at least 32MB RAM, one can run the latest version of Linux for free. Extrapolate the current business practices backwards to when the LC630 came out. I could have upgraded that 486 box over all the years, to today's latest system software, for free.
Compare that to Windows and MacOS over the last couple of years -- even aside from the complete abandonment of 68K Macs.
In 486 terms, that would have been like moving from Windows 3.1 to Windows 95, to "later" Windows 95, to Windows 98, to Windows NT, and next year to Windows 2000, but for free. In Mac terms that would have been like moving from MacOS 7.0, to 7.5, to 8.0, to 9.0 to "X" -- all for free. And then as a last resort, if there's something that some company abandons that I need to fix, I could still fix some things myself.
Moreover, the current position of Apple is that the next major OS upgrade, which is not very far off, (currently called "MacOS X") won't even run on pre-G3 PowerPC based Macs.
There's more I could say about this, particularly that current Linux, especially on a x86 is pretty good already, and still rapidly improving. But at bottom, if one has been a heavy computer users over the last couple of years, in either the Mac or Windows worlds, we have had ample opportunity to see advantages of Open Source software.
[The original version of the above was a reply to a Usenet
news posting. It occurred to me that what I wrote was something
I'd been thinking about for some time, and which has a pervasive
impact on the computer industry. I make no predictions about
"Linux burying Microsoft in X years," but as I wrote, it is clear
that the events of this year have made the strongest case one can
imagine for Open Source software.]
[1999/12/26]
Dec. 17, 1999, PR Newswire reports that Mercedes-Benz model year
2000 cars can now include a Motorola StarDAC phone, integrated
with the car's electronics. The car's display will display
the phone's information, and voice recognition can be used to
control some of the car's functions.
[1999/12/21]
Dec. 17, 1999, Canada News Wire reports that MTT Mobility has
announced that digital PCS service is now available in Pictou
County, providing continuous coverage including Truro and Metro
Halifax. MTT is a wholly owned subsidiary of Aliant Inc.
http://www.mtt.ca/
http://www.aliant.ca/
[1999/12/21]
Dec. 14, 1999, Reuters and Associate Press in separate articles report that that 3Com Corp. has officially filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, disclosing that AOL and Motorola will each take as much as 1.5% of the shares, and that Nokia is expected to also buy a portion of unknown size. Reuters points out that Ericsson is also now working with Microsoft Corp. and that Motorola has said it will work with both Symbian and Palm Computing to provide wireless information products, and particularly will license PalmsOS for use in Motorola products.
[It appears that all 3 major cell phone makers, Ericsson, Motorola
and Nokia might be stepping back a bit from their previous position
to unite on Symbian's EPOC OS. I have no current information about
any particular reasons for this, aside from the obvious attraction of
working with the clear leader in the industry.]
[1999/12/18]
Dec. 14, 1999, Communications Today reports that on Dec. 13, 1999, the
International Telecommunications Union's Study Group 11 agreed on
six network-related standards which will be part of the IMT-2000
3rd generation specification. The areas affected include signaling,
security, functional modeling and compatibility with the Network
to Network Interface protocol, forming an important step towards
roaming compatibility during the transition from 2nd generation to
3rd generation systems.
[1999/12/18]
Dec. 13, 1999, Business Wire reports that Dell Computer Corporation has announced a new "ultralight" laptop computer called the Dell(R) Latitude(R) LS, and a higer performance version of its "lightweight" Dell Latitude CSx. Both use Intel Mobile Pentium(R) III processors.
The Latitude LS uses a 1" thick magnesium alloy chassis to achieve a
weight of 3.5 lbs. including a 4-cell battery.
http://www.dell.com/products/notebook/latitude/index.htm
[1999/12/18]
Dec. 13, 1999, Business Wire reports that the US Commerce Department
awarded Patent No. 6,000,000 to 3Com Corporation for its "Extendable
Method for Synchronizing Multiple Files on Two Different Computer
Systems" (the HotSynch(R) system) by Jeff Hawkins and Michael Albanese.
US Patent and Trademark Office
http://www.uspto.gov/
[1999/12/18]
Dec. 10, 1999, Canada News Wire reports that Unique Broadband
Systems, Inc. (UBS) has announced that it has commenced the
development of "RealLinux(TM) which a real-time OS based on Linux.
According to UBS, their source code will be open to the public
and the first application will be based on the Motorola
68360 CPU.
[1999/12/14]
Dec. 9, 1999, Canada News Wire reports that Rogers Cantel INc.
has announced that it has begun Digital PCS service in
Steinbach, Manitoba. In a separate announcement, Rogers
Cantel Inc. announced "Pay As You Go" service has
begun in Brandon, Manitoba. In another separate announcement,
Rogers Cantel Inc. also announced "Pay As You Go" service
has commenced in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan.
[1999/12/14]
Dec. 8, 1999, (Business Wire reports that IBM has announced the
availability of ViaVoice Millenium Edition 1.0 for Macintosh.
IBM claims this is the first continuous speech recognition
software for the Apple Macintosh platform. The minimum system
is MacOS 8.5.1 (or 8.6 or 9.0), a 233MHz PowerPC CPU, 48MB RAM,
200MB HD space, a CD-ROM and an audio input jack compatible with
Andrea NC-71 microphones. Specifically mentioned as compatible
are the iMac, PowerMac G3 and G4 and PowerBook G3. The software
will be available this week in the US and Canada priced at
$89.95 US.
http://www.ibm.com/software/speech/
[1999/12/14]
Dec. 8, 1999, Business Wire reports that IBM has announced a "comprehensive support program for independent software vendors (ISVs) and corporate developers to help them create new applications for wireless devices. The program features a software took kit and a new testing facility, as well as a direct link to Nokia for developers that want to use Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) to extend Web and enterprise data to next generation WAP phones. Nokia will support the center, providing technical assistance and WAP devices for application development and testing. . . ."
"Unlike PC applications that can be tested with the same equipment
they are created on, pervasive computing applications are more
involved. They require developers to port and test applications
on multiple devices in a variety of scenarios, which can be expensive
and complex. The pervasive computing testing facility offers a
number of testing environments, which could help reduce developers'
expenses and time - to - market."
[1999/12/14]
Dec. 8, 1999, Robert Ristelhueber writes for EE Times that TFT
LCD's are likely to remain in short supply for the first half
of next year, easing in the second half of the year.
[1999/12/14]
Dec. 7, 1999, Business Wire reports that Hewlett-Packard
Company and Socket Communications Inc. have announced that
they are working together to develop Bluetooth single and
multifunctional CompactFlash CF+ cards for HP's Jornada
handheld computers.
Socket Communcations Inc.
http://www.socketcom.com/
[1999/12/11]
Dec. 7, 1999, Reuters reports that Sun Microsystems Inc. has
withdrawn its submission to have ECMA adopt Java as a
formal standard. It had previously withdrawn its similar
submission to ISO.
[1999/12/11]
Dec. 7, 1999, Associated Press reports that the W95.Babylonia
virus can be spread through use of Chat rooms as well as
EMail. It appears as a Y2K fix but allows the virus writer
to control the infected machine. It is potentially very
dangerous. Its primary vector is autodownloading in MIRC
chat software.
[1999/12/11]
Dec. 6, 1999, Business Wire reports that AMD has announced its
new AMD-K6-2E embedded processor in standard and low-power
consumption versions. The low power version runs with a 1.9V
core voltage consuming less than 10 watts, and is cabable
of extended temperature range usage to 85 degrees C. Available
immediately, the low power versions in quantities of 1,000 are
priced at $69 US for the 333 MHz AMD-K6-2E/333AMZ processor
and $66 US for the 300 MHz AMD-K6-2E/300AMZ. Normal power
version are $61 US at 350 MHz (AMD-K6-2E/350AFR) and $59 US
for at 333 MHz (AMD-K6-2E/333AFR).
[1999/12/11]
Dec. 6, 1999, Business Wire reports that Hewlett-Packard Company
has announced that its latest OmniBook 900 laptop computer will
feature the Intel(R) Mobile Pentium(R) III 500Mhz and a wireless
Wide Area Network (WAN) bundle. The package is immediately
available with prices starting at $3,500 US.
[1999/12/11]
Dec. 6, 1999, PR Newswire reports that Lucent Technologies and
Motorola have announced the availability of their StarCore SC140
DSP core and have demonstrated its viability by producing an
"initial silicon" implimentation.
http://www.starcore-dsp.com/
[1999/12/11]
Dec. 4, 1999, Associated Press reports that there are a number
of Y2K related viruses which may cause problems early in the
new year. [Rather than try to track them on this page,
I'll recommend that you check the CERT, McAfee and Symantec
websites.]
Some Websites: I do not endorse any of these sites. Only
the Carnegie Mellon site is not commercial.
Central Command Inc.
Carnegie Mellon's Computer Emergency
Response Team (CERT -- computer virus tracking) http://www.cert.org/
Symantec Anti-Virus Center
Trend Micro Inc.
http://www.antivirus.com/
[I'm not sure about "McAfee.com". It might be as simple as
"http://www.mcafee.com/", but I haven't tried it.]
[1999/12/07] revised [1999/12/11]
It may come as a surprise that I have only briefly used a 56Kbps modem. I bought a Cardinal X2 modem and used it for a few weeks before trying to upgrade it to V.90. When the upgrade failed to work I decided to buy another modem. Expecting that the Cardinal would work eventually, I only bought a GVC 33.6Kbps modem to get me through the wait. But then Cardinal (Hayes) went bankrupt and no working upgrade was ever posted on their website. Since 56Kbps modems really aren't that much faster than 33.6's anyway, I never bothered to buy another modem.
This past week, Pathway Communications decided to upgrade its modem pool and unfortunately, an anomaly resulted. While the GVC 33.6 worked with my Windows 95 laptop, for some reason, the settings used by the Mac caused it to fail by not detecting the proper carrier. I tried upgrading the latest Mac driver, but that didn't help. Eventually, I might have been able to figure out a driver fix, but I decided that it was about time to try a V.90 again. Luckily, I still had my GVC 28.8 modem and GVC has an upgrade deal. I upgraded to their latest external Mac version 56K V.90 speakerphone/voice/ FAX/Modem. While I had a problem with the software installation on the Mac (which reported a bad floppy), and there is no manual or documentation (since the documentation is usually included on the CD-ROM for the Windows version), the main Modem functions are working properly and I am now enjoying full V.90 data connections. The only problem I have on the Mac is that the Speakerphone support isn't working.
I did test out the modem on the Windows 95 laptop, and everything,
including the speaker phone does seem to work, though not entirely
without flaw. The sound through my headset is not loud enough. Also,
I haven't tested the FAX facility on any computer, in any direction.
But it's been nice having the speed increase, and it's particularly
nice that its working on both my main computers. Hopefully, it'll
work on all my various permutations, but at the least, I have my main
connections reasonably debugged. Expect to hear more of this in
the future, particularly when I test connections for handheld devices
to the Internet.
[1999/12/11]
Dec. 2, 1999, Business Wire reports that 3Com Corporation has announced that Carl Yankowski, formerly President and COO of Sony Electronics, Inc. and President and CEO of Reebok Brand will be CEO and a Director of Palm Computing, Inc. on Dec. 13, 1999. Mr. Yankowski was a systems analyst and electrical engineer with both business and BSEE degrees from MIT.
[I don't usually mention moves like this, but it may be
indicative of the future role of Sony in Palm Computing's
business plans.]
[1999/12/07]
Dec. 2, 1999, Canada News Wire reports that Telus has applied to
the CRTC to change 911 service charges in Alberta. Wireline
services will be reduced from 19 cents down to 16 cents per
month while wireless services will be charged 8 cents per month
per working phone number. The net effect is intended to
eliminate any gain from the new charge for wireless service
which were required by a recent decision of the CRTC.
[1999/12/07]
Dec. 2, 1999, Reuters reports that Khyber Technologies Corp. has
claimed to have filed suit against Hewlett-Packard Co., Everex
Systems, Inc., Casio Computer Co. Ltd., Uniden Corp. and Philips
Electronics for infringement of a 1997 patent covering "pocket-sized
organizers having the ability to store and retrieve audio messages
and messages entered through handwriting on the screen of the
device. . . . The Patent also covers such pocket-sized devices
with a homebase station for transmitting and receiving messages to
and from the device." Khyber is developing its own product called
the Pocket Partner which is designed to serve as a wireless phone,
organizer and Internet appliance.
[1999/12/07]
Dec. 1, 1999, Associated Press reports that Cisco Systems claims
to have a "new approach" to high-speed, low-cost Internet by
harnessing and redirecting voice and data microwave signals that
bounce off obstructions in large cities through "multichannel
multipoint distribution services (MMDS). [Caution! I'm not
convinced that the writer understood whatever it was that Cisco
actually announced.]
[1999/12/07]
Dec. 1, 1999, Business Wire reports that Motorola has announced that
it has developed a new technology technology based on superior materials
caled Perovskites (a class of crystalline oxide materials) to replace
silicon dioxide, allowing for thinner gates.
[1999/12/07]
Dec. 1, 1999, PR Newswire reports that the Wireless Data Forum has
announced that Geoworks Corporation has become its newest member.
The Wireless Data Forum refers to itself as "an independent,
technology-neutral trade group dedicated to promoting the wireless
data industry."
Wireless Data Forum
http://www.wirelessdata.org/
[1999/12/07]
Dec. 1, 1999, Reuters reports that Intel Corp. announced on
Wednesday that it has found a bug in some current Pentium III chips
that causes a problem booting a computer. According to Intel
spokesman Michael Sullivan "If a system is powered all the way down,
and someone turns it on, it may not boot until you turn it on again."
Intel estimates that the problem may affect 1 - 2% of the "Coppermine"
chips manufactured to date, and that the problem will be eliminated
in "the next manufacturing cycle" of the Pentium III line. [No
estimate was given in the article when this would be. This does not
appear to include any current "mobile" chips, but there is no
specific exclusion of them either.]
[1999/12/07]
Nov. 30, 1999, Business Wire reports that Motorola Inc. and AT&T
have announced that the Motorola StarTAC ST7797 TDMA phone is now
available at AT&T stores. [I'm not sure why this is being billed
as a "Multi-Network" phone. Only TDMA is mentioned in the
article.]
[1999/12/07]
Nov. 30, 1999, Madeleine Acey writes for TechWeb that engineers at one of the world's biggest Internet exchanges are planning to use walkie talkies to communicate on New Year's Eve in order to avoid overloaded phone systems at midnight.
[This sounds like a good idea, and if you are planning on being
out at midnight, you might consider having alternative communcations
like this.]
[1999/12/04]
Nov. 30, 1999, Canadian Corporate News reports that Panasonic
Canada Inc. now offers a Sierra Wireless Inc. SB300 CDPD wireless
modem for the Panasonic Toughbook CF-27 computer. The modem
can be included from initial delivery or added later.
[1999/12/04]
Nov. 30, 1999, Business Wire reports that Cutting Edge Software
Inc. has announced that it has developed an interface to combine
ImageiWorks' ImagiProbe(TM) data collection and visualization
software and the Quicksheet spreadsheet for the PalmOS platform.
Cutting Edge Software Inc.
http://www.cesinc.com/
ImagiWorks
http://www.imagiworks.com/
[1999/12/04]
Nov. 30, 1999, Business Wire reports that according to Trend
Micro Inc., the Troj_Explorezip worm has returned but in a
different compression which alludes detection from previous
virus detection patches. Trend Micro has a new patch to
protect from it.
http://www.antivirus.com/
[1999/12/04]
Nov. 29, 1999, Canada News Wire reports that Telus Mobility has
announced that its digital cellular service is now available in
Calgary, Edmonton, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Red Deer, Fort
McMurray, and Grand Prairie.
[1999/12/04]
Nov. 29, 1999, Business Wire reports that according to Motorola
Inc.'s Network Solutions Sector, it's high speed wireless Internet
access for cdmaOne(TM) networks will make its commercial debut
in Japan on Jan. 7, 2000. The technology is based on cdmaOne
TIA/EIA-IS-95B and allows data rates up to 64Kbps (faster than
V-90).
[1999/12/04]
Nov. 29, 1999, Canada News Wire reports that Rogers Cantel Inc.
has announced that it has bought Digital PCS services to Pictou
County, Nova Scotia.
[1999/12/04]
I downloaded the Palm 3.3 update on Oct. 21, 1999, and I think
I updated on that date. If not, then I did so fairly soon after.
Furthermore, I think it was available before that date, so other
people have had this final version longer than me. So far,
no one has reported a "lost day" when using the 3.3 update, so
I think we can declare this a successful fix for that particular
bug. There may be other bugs fixed as well. Unfortunately, there
are some bugs still remaining and there have also been reports of
new bugs, so its still hard to say how much of an improvement
there has been overall specifically in terms of bugs.
[1999/12/04]
Nov. 26, 1999, Associated Press reports that Olympus and IBM
(Japan) have developed a prototype "Wearable PC". Weighing
13 oz., it is powered by a Pentium CPU with 64MB memory, and
runs Microsoft Windows. [Yet another one?]
[1999/11/30]
Nov. 26, 1999, Stuart Glascock writes for TechWeb that Samsung
Electronics' watchphone (cellphone/wristwatch) uses voice
recognition to start and receive phone calls. Lernout and
Hauspie have signed an agreement with Symbian covering L&H's
International Correct Spell and the IntelliFinder reference
engine. [I don't think that either of these are necessarily
for voice use. I'm not certain though.] Dragon Systems
showed its "Mobile Organizer Version 4" which allows dication
and synching voice to a main computer which can then translate.
[1999/11/30]
Nov. 25, 1999, Canada News Wire reports that Rogers Cantel Inc.
has announced the availability of Cantel(R) AT&T(TM) Interactive
Messaging service, supporting Internet E-Mail in Halifax, Nova
Scotia. Using the RIM Inter@ctive Pager 950, messages up to
16,000 characters (about 5 text pages) can be delivered in about
10 seconds using Mobitex secure, packet-switching transmission.
Powered by an Intel 386(TM) CPU, and having a miniature QWERTY
keyboard and thumb wheel the 950 allows a reply to be written
and sent.
[1999/11/30]
Nov. 23, 1999, Business Wire reports that Motorola and
Mobilkom have achieve their first mobile data transfers
over General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) in Austria. When
trials have been completed, GPRS service will be integrated
into the existing GSM network with commercial operation
expected by summer 2000.
http://horizongprs.motorola.com/
[1999/11/30]
Nov. 23, 1999, Canada News Wire reports that Rogers Cantel Inc. has
announced that it has extended coverage of "Pay As You Go" wireless
services in Alberta to the areas of Medicine Hat, Lethbridge, Red Deer,
Ft. McMurray and Grande Prairie.
[1999/11/27]
Nov. 23, 1999, PR Newswire reports that Compaq Computer Corporation
has announced that orders are being taken for its new Prosignia
Notebooke 170 Portable Computer. Delivery will commence in December.
Prices start at $2,336 US.
[1999/11/27]
Nov. 23, 1999, Reuters reports that according to PC Data,
the Apple iBook was the top selling portable computer in the
US in October.
[1999/11/27]
Nov. 23, 1999, Loring Wirbel writes for EE Times that AudeSi Technologies, a startup company partnered with Sun Microsystems and Motorola is working on "Java bean middleware for Internet appliances ranging from mobile phones to set-top boxes and gaming platforms."
Nov. 23, 1999, Business Wire reports that according to Frost &
Sullivan, the Chinese mobile computer market is expected to
grow from a current 600,000 existing units at about 18.7% per
year through 2005 with sub-notebook computers overtaking notebook
computers. The report #4888-71, Oct. 1999 costs $2,950 US.
http://www.frost.com/
[1999/11/27]
Nov. 22, 1999, Business Wire reports that Dell Computer Corporation has announced availability of Aironet(TM) Wireless Communications Inc.'s 4800 Series wireless LAN products for enterprise use with speeds up to 11 Mbps. and plans for a consumer version "by the end of this year." For the current enterprise products, the portable computer card will cost $199 and $999 for a "access point." An access point can handle up to 50 simultaneous connections with coverage up to 300 feet.
Also, from Nov. 30, 1999, Dell will offer the Research In Motion
BlackBerry in the US. The Blackberry costs $399 per unit, and
airtime service is priced at $39.99 US per month with no roaming
or long distance surcharges. Compatible enterprise server software
(version 1.60 is priced at $2,999 US.
[1999/11/27]
Nov. 22, 1999, Business Wire reports that AMD has announced
that its PCnet-Home(TM) controller is the first Home Phoneline
Networking Alliance (HomePNA) compliant product to be European CE
certified.
[1999/11/27]
Nov. 22, 1999, America's Networks writes that the US will remain
a "wired" society through 2010 with wireless growth slowing after
next year. Projections are that the US wireless will have only 3%
of total voice traffic in 2000, rising to 5% by 2005 and 10% by 2010.
Due to falling prices, revenue growth will slow despite increase use.
"Wireless revenues are expected to increase to 15% to 20% by 2000,
remain at the 15% level through 2005, and settle to the 10% to 15%
level by the end of the next decade."
[1999/11/27]
Nov. 19, 1999, PR Newswire reports that the Anti-Virus Emergency
Response Team (AVERT) division of NAI Labs at Network Associates,
Inc. has announced that a new self-propagating virus has been
found which is being called "W97M/Prilissa". This is a Word 97
Macro virus similar to Melissa but with a payload that will
reformat a user's hard drive on Dec. 25 (any year). The virus
arrives via E-Mail with a subject line "Message From
"(C) 1999 - cyberNET Vine ... Vide ... Vice ... Moslem Power Never End ... You Dare Rise Against Me ... The Human era is Over, The CyberNET Era Has Come!!! [OK]"
Further infected E-Mail is sent to the first 50 entries in a Microsoft Outlook address book. The user's registry is modified. Then the modification causes the C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT to be replaced on Dec. 25. The new payload will reformat the Hard Drive on the next boot.
[Nov. 19, 1999, Lee Kimber writes for TechWeb about the "Melissa.w"
virus which seems to be the same virus.]
http://www.nai.com/
http://www.McAfee.com/
[1999/11/23]
Nov. 19, 1999, Madeleine Acey writes for TechWeb that Dell has
said that its Irish plant in Limerick had halted production for
"several days" due to a computer virus infection. Although 500
comptuers were recalled, none was found to have been infected.
[The writer does not confirm that this was an infection of
the W32.FunLove.4099 virus that infects applications with
.EXE, .SCR and .OCX extensions and first found in the US on
Nov. 9, 1999, but seems to imply that it probably was this
virus.]
[1999/11/23]
Nov. 19, 1999, Maggie Fox writes for Reuters that following the
Hewlett-Packard/UCLA announcement in July, a second team of
developers from Rice University in Houston and Yale University
in New Haven has developed a molecular logic gate. According
to James Tour of Rice "The biggest difference is that ours was
reversible -- theirs was irreversible."
[1999/11/23]
Nov. 18, 1999, PR Newswire reports that Microcell Solutions Inc. and
National Bank of Canada have agreed to provide their customers
with access to financial services via their wireless phones. Tests
will be conducted commercial service will become available "next
year."
http://www.microcell.ca/
http://www.bnc.ca/
[1999/11/23]
Nov. 16, 1999, Canada News Wire reports that Rogers Cantel has
extended its "Digital One Rate" service to cover "calls made and
received by Digital One Rate customers while in the U.S." which
effectively removes "roaming charges" for customers crossing
the Canada/US boarder. From Feb. 2000 onward, this will be
extended further "to calls made and received in the U.S."
[This is ambiguous but I think it means that long distance
within the US for DOR customers roaming in the US will be
eliminated.]
[1999/11/20]
Nov. 16, 1999, Business Wire reports that BSQUARE has announced a
significantly improved version (5.0) of its bFAX Pro software for
Windows CE. Internet FAXing is included as well as the ability to
receive FAXes while the machine is off (a service provided by
NetMoves or JFAX.COM) and the ability to annotate a received FAX.
bFAX Pro will be available for $49.95 "early first quarter, 2000."
[1999/11/20]
Nov. 16, 1999, Business Wire reports that Boundless Technologies,
Inc. has announced that its new iBrow(TM) information appliance
based on the National(R) Geode(TM) WebPAD(TM) reference platform,
the first production Internet access device based on this platform,
will be demonstrated at COMDEX '99.
Boundless Technologies, iBrow http://www.boundless.com/ibrow/
[1999/11/20]
Nov. 16, 1999, Business Wire reports that DT Research Inc.'s DT300
Wireless Thin Client uses Windows CE on National Semiconductor's
Geode(TM) GXLV processor. The DT300 uses the 2.5GHz band for
wireless LAN connectivity.
[1999/11/20]
Nov. 16, 1999, PR Newswire reports that an HP Jornada handheld
computer is used in the up coming James Bond movie "The World
Is Not Enough".
photo http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19991116/NYFNSU02
[1999/11/20]
Nov. 15, 1999, Clearnet Communications Inc. has announced that
Clearnet PCS services are now available in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
The current digital coverage area includes Halifax, Bedford,
Dartmouth, Uplands Park and the airport, with further expansion
in the province planned throughout 2000.
http://www.clearnet.com/
[1999/11/20]
Nov. 15, 1999, Canada News Wire reports that Adobe Systems Incorporated
has announced that the latest version of Acrobat(R) Reader, available
today, supports "Web Buy", an encryption system allowing commercially
distributed books to be downloaded and read. Currently, 20 classic
books can downloaded for free from Adobe's website at no charge.
Versions are available for Windows(R) and Macintosh platforms.
[1999/11/20]
Nov. 15, 1999, PR Newswire reports that Geoworks Corporation and
Nokia have announced that they have extended their agreement
whereby Geoworks is helping to develop application software
for Nokia devices.
[1999/11/20]
Nov. 15, 1999, Associated Press reports that Hewlett-Packard Co.'s
Carly Fiorina has said that HP is working with Swatch to develop
a wristwatch that can access the Web. No details were provided.
[1999/11/20]
Nov. 15, 1999, Business Wire reports that National Semiconductor
Corporation has announced that Infomatec AG will port its Linux-
based platform Java Network Technology(TM) operating system to the
National(R) Geode(TM) WebPAD(TM) platform.
[1999/11/20]
Nov. 15, 1999, Stephanie Miles writes for CNET that Everex has
discontinued its Windows CE based handheld computer product line.
[1999/11/20]
Nov. 16, 1999, Palm Computing, Inc. and Sony Corporation have announced to jointly develop a "next generation platform for handheld consumer electronics products with audio-visual (AV) functionality." Sony has licensed PalmOS and Palm has committed to supporting Sony's Memory Stick storage and data exchange technology "as part of the Palm Computing platform."
"Sony plans to implement the Palm Computing platform into an entirely new line of handheld electronics products that will not be limited to electronic organizers but are expected to include a wide range of mobile wireless telecommunications-enabled AV/IT consumer electronics products. In addition, Palm and Sony have agreed to jointly work on developing a future version of the Palm OS operating system which would incorporate not only Memory Stick technology but other Sony AV technologies as well. This new version of the Palm OS operating system would make it possible to develop a new generation of mobile consumer electronics products based on the Palm Computing platform, which will be made available for licensing by third parties."
[Sorry for the extensive quote. Sometimes exact wording is
important. I am interested in the apparent strength in the commitment
to "Memory Stick" whereas I had expected that in time Palm would
adopt the Handspring "Springboard" expansion port. Then again, Visor
could create a "Springboard" to receive a "Memory Stick."]
Sony Corporation
http://www.sony.co.jp/
[1999/11/16]
Nov. 10, 1999, Business Wire reports that on Nov. 8, 1999
Qualcomm announced its High Speed Data Rates (HDR) technology
which is compatible with cdmaOne(TM), capable of transmitting
up to 1.8 Megabits per second in fixed and mobile environments.
[1999/11/16]
Nov. 10, 1999, Canada News Wire reports that Microcell
Telecommunications Inc. has announced its financial and
operating results for the three months ending Sept. 30, 1999.
[Since subscriptions have already been announced, and I
do not generally post financial results on this Website,
I will summarize by saying that previous announced numbers
appear to be confirmed.]
[1999/11/16]
Nov. 10, 1999, Associated Press reports that a new virus known
as "Bubbleboy" or Seinfeld" is a "worm" virus that is
activated by merely highlighting the name of a received
EMail message subject line in "Outlook Express". It propogates
to all addresses in the e-mail program. It works if
"Windows Scripting Host" is present on the computer. The
current prank version renames the registered owner to "Bubbleboy"
and makes other "Seinfeld" references. It affects computers
using Windows 98, 2000, some versions of 95, (but not NT), if
used with Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0 and Outlook Express.
The August upgrade to Internet Explorer 5.0 protects against
"Bubbleboy", Network Associates has a software patch, and
Microsoft's highest-security e-mail filter will block the
virus.
[1999/11/13]
Nov. 9, 1999, Business Wire reports that Hewlett-Packard Company has announced that it will release its "e-speak" source code on Dec. 8, 1999 for open source developers.
[I'm not sure what "e-speak" is. It seems to be an interprocess
language or protocol. The release notes that it is being used
with Wireless Access Protocol (WAP) for complex transactions.]
http://www.hp.com/e-speak/developers/
http://www.e-speak.net/
[1999/11/13]
Nov. 8, 1999, Canada News Wire reports that Clearnet Communications
Inc. has launched The Mike Network in Alberta. Clearnet notes
that capital investment in Alberta is ongoing and will reach
$170 million (Cdn) by the end of 2000. Current coverage includes
Calgary, Edmonton and Red Deer. Fort McMurray, Camrose, Banff,
Lethbridge and Medicine Hat are expected to be open by the end
of 1999 with Dawson Creek, Peace River, Grande Prairie, High
Prairie, Slave Lake, Whitecourt, Cold Lake, Lloydminster, Hanna,
Drumheller, Drayton Valley, Milk River, Rocky Mountain House,
Hinton and other locations open by the end of 2000.
[1999/11/13]
Nov. 8, 1999, PR Newswire reports that Compaq Computer Corporation
says that its Armada E700, M700, M300, E500 and V300 Series laptop
computer all feature Mini PCI connections with integrated RJ11 and
RJ45 ports.
[1999/11/13]
Nov. 8, 1999, Business Wire reports that 3Com Corporation commended
the PCI Special Interest Group for its approval of the Mini PCI
Specification. This specification is expected to be used mainly in
laptop computers and may eventually replace PC Cards.
[1999/11/13]
Nov. 3, 1999, VTech has begun shipping its Helio handheld computer.
The shipped version is priced at $179 US, with improved specifications.
The Helio now comes standard with 8 MB of RAM allowing 55 minutes of
recording time. Furthermore, three additional colors have been
announced -- translucent blue, translucent green and clear. The
five colors originally announced (metallic blue, pearlized pink,
bright yellow, cool gray and green with purple tint) are also still
available.
http://www.vtechinfo.com/
[1999/11/13]
Nov. 4, 1999, Mathew Ingram writes for The Globe And Mail that
Cisco System's announced plan to develop a standard for wireless
data transmission based on it s "vector OFDM" technology acquired
when it purchased Clarity Wirelesss (See previous item "Cisco
Plans To Develop Wireless Data Standard") might infringe Wi-LAN's
Patents for "wide band OFDM (orthogonal frequency-division
multiplexing). Cisco has been informed of the potential patent
overlap, but has not yet responded.
[1999/11/09]
Nov. 4, 1999, Business Wire reports that Semiconductor300
(a joint venture of Infineon Technologies and Motorola)
claim to have produced the first 256Mbit DRAM functional
chips on 300mm wafers.
http://www.sc300.de/
[1999/11/09]
Nov. 3, 1999, Reuters reports that "Packard Bell NEC will shut
most of its U.S. operation and remove the computer brand from
retail shelves in the United State." The brand will still be
used in Europe. [Packard Bell hasn't been in the laptop industry
lately, but any effect this will have on NEC portable computers
is currently unclear. I'll try to get more info from PBNEC in
Canada as soon as I can.]
[1999/11/09]
Nov. 3, 1999, PR Newswire reports that Compaq Computer Corporation
has announced that its Prosignia Notebook 150 can be ordered with
475MHz or 433MHz versions of AMD K6(R)-2 P Mobile processors.
Prices start at $2,299 US for the 475MHz version and $1,999 US
for the 433MHz version.
[1999/11/09]
Nov. 3, 1999, Canada News Wire reports that Microcell Telecommuncations
Inc. has announced that Microcell Connexions Inc. has signed a
wholesale agreement with Universal Paging Telecommunications (UPT)
making UPT a reseller of Microcell's services. UPT will sell PCS
services under the name "SiMPRO".
[1999/11/09]
Nov. 1, 1999, Duncan Martell reports that semiconductor
and large computer company stocks fell after a second major
earthquake, (6.9 on the Richter scale) rocked Taiwan.
[1999/11/06]
Nov. 2, 1999, Canada News Wire reports that Bell Mobility has
announced the availability of "Group Calling" conference calls
with support for up to 32 participants. The new system
allows for full duplex support which allow all participants
to talk at the same time, instead of the common "simplex"
systems which only allow one person to speak at a time.
"The fee for Group Calling is $15 per group per month, billed
to the call initiator. Participants on the call will be
charged 20 cents per minute, including long distance. The
call initiator is not charged for airtime. Group Calling
is available in both French and English starting November 1,
1999.
[1999/11/06]
Nov. 2, 1999, Amanda Stirpe writes for Computer Reseller News
that NEC Computer Systems Division of Packard Bell NEC has
announced three new laptop computers with built-in Mini PCI
ports.
Versa FX: 400MHz Intel Pentium III, 12.1" TFT display, 12GB
HD, 3.5 lbs., including external CD-ROM and floppy drives,
$2,499 US.
Versa VX: 500MHz Pentium III, 6.4 lbs., 12.1" SVGA TFT display
or 14.1" XGA TFT display, 6GB HD and port replicator priced
from $1,699 US to $3,599 US.
Versa LXi, (based on SX and LX) 500MHz Pentium III, built-in
floppy or 120MB SuperDisk drive, 15" XGA TFT screen, starting
at $2,999 US.
[1999/11/06]
Nov. 2, 1999, Reuters reports that RealNetworks Inc. is issuing
a patch for its "RealJukebox" Software which will prevent it
from sending personal user information to it without properly
informing end users.
[1999/11/06]
Nov. 2, 1999, Reuters reports that law suits have been filed
against Compaq Computer Corp., Hewlett-Packard Co., NEC Corp.,
Packard-Bell-NEC Electronics Inc. and eMachines Inc. for
selling computers with defective floppy drives, similar to
the claim made against Toshiba. Compaq has said it will
defend against the suit, HP, eMachines and PBNEC have said
that they have not seen the suit(s) and declined to comment
and NEC reps could not be reached.
[1999/11/06]
Nov. 2, 1999, PR Newswire reports that Texas Instruments
and ARM have announced that the two companies will collaborate
on a combined DSP and Microcontroller platform for "next-
generation wireless information devices. The new dual-core
platform will combine a TI DSP and ARM's 32-bit RISC core.
[1999/11/06]
Nov. 2, 1999, Business Wire reports that Silicon Wave Inc. has
demonstrated its integrated radio/modem component intended for
use in Bluetooth systems. Silicon Wave claims this is the first
Bluetooth "system-on-a-chip" device. Component prototypes
are currently shipping with production samples expected in
Q1, 2000 and full production in Q2, 2000.
http://www.siliconwave.com/
[1999/11/06]
Nov. 2, 1999, PR Newswire reports that PacketVideo Corporation has
demonstrated live streaming video to palm-size and handheld PC.
[There were no real details in this article.]
http://www.packetvideo.com/
[1999/11/06]
Nov. 1, 1999, Business Wire reports that Hewlett-Packard Company
has announced its HP Jornada 690 handheld computer which
features 32MB RAM which is expected to benefit vertical markets.
HP Jornada 690: 133MHz CPU, 6.5" screen with 65,536 colours,
7.4" * 3.7" * 1.3", 1.1 lbs., built-in 56Kbps V. 90 modem,
Windows CE Handheld PC Professional Edition, added software,
available later in Nov. for $999 US.
According to HP, the Jornada 680 will continue to be available
at $899 US.
[1999/11/06]
Nov. 1, 1999, Business Wire reports that Motorola has announced
its new DSP56690 baseband processor which is claimed to be
capable of supporting all major existing wireless standards
including CDMA, GSM, iDEN and TDMA. The processor includes
a Digital Signal Processor and an M-CORE(TM) microcontroller.
The 1.8 V. device features a DSP66600 core running at 100MHz
and an M-CORE M210 running at 50MHz. which communicate through
a shared RAM memory block. Limited samples are expected in
late Q4, 1999 with volume production in Q1, 2000.
[1999/11/06]
Nov. 1, 1999, Andy Pasztor and Peter Landers writes for The Wall
Street Journal that Toshiba Corp. has settled a class action
law suit for allegedly selling defective laptop computers for
$2.1 billion US. The allegation regards a suspected flaw in
the floppy disk controller chip which might randomly destroy
or corrupt data. The accusation regards a family of controller
chips by Intel and NEC, but have been "copied by chip makers
around the world."
[The implications of this law suit might be huge. I doubt
if there are many long time computer users who haven't lost
data due to a computer defect -- hardware or software.
Warranty limits are broadly drafted to limit the computer
makers exposure to discourage law suits like this. Since the
case was settled, the liability is still undecided, but the
court papers would make interesting reading.]
[1999/11/02]
Oct. 29, 1999, PR Newswire reports that Microsoft has
acquired Entropic Inc., a developer of software tools for
developing speech based applications.
[1999/11/02]
Oct. 29, 1999, Canadian Corporate News reports that Mobilink
Telecom has announced its ML2020 System-On-A-Chip GSM Baseband
ASIC for Wireless Internet Applications which is supported
by its "multi-slot GPRS" software to allow faster data
transfers. Samples of the chip will be available in early
2000 with volume production beginning in Q3. Also announced
is the ML2010 which adds voice recognition and recording.
Mobilink Telecom http://www.mobilinktel.com/
[1999/11/02]
Oct. 28, 1999, Maggie Fox writes for Reuters that IBM has
announced that it has developed a thin, flexible transistor
based on a "new class of materials" which can be laid
down onto plastic. According to Cherie Kagan, the process
is relatively low temperature and Kagan and her collegues
are working with phenethylammonium tin iodide and are
looking for other metals and organic compounds that will
work.
[1999/11/02]
Oct. 27, 1999, Therese Poletti writes for Reuters that the
Semiconductor Industry Association has estimated that 1999
industry growth is expected to be 15 percent at $144 billion
US, and forecasts 2000 sales to rise a further 21% to $174
billion US. Though DRAM is expected to continue strong growth
of 31% to $18 billion US and 39% in 2000 to $25 billion US,
Flash memory is expected to have ever stronger near term
increases with 63% growth to $4.1 billion US in 1999 and 36%
growth in 2000 to $5.5 billion US.
[1999/11/02]
Oct. 27, 1999, Business Wire reports that IBM and Nokia "will collaborate on a wide range of speech technology projects in the area of speech recognition, conversational systems, text to speech and speaker recognition . . . [and] will also share resources for long-term research and development, with a focus on VoiceXML, multi-modal Internet browsing, and other speech-enabled applications." Related to this agreement, Nokia has licensed IBM's ViaVoice Directory Dialer for automated directory assistance and call routing.
Also in this regard, IBM and seven other companies have
developed the "VoiceTIMES" audio specification for digital
recorders and speech recognition applications.
http://www.ibm.com/software/voicetimes/
[1999/11/02]
Oct. 26, 1999, Reuters reports that Motorola has bought a majority
share of Olicom A/S which owns Digianswer, a developer of Bluetooth
and HomeRF products. Digianswer will provide Motorola with its
Bluetooth technology and co-develop a HomeRF product.
[1999/11/02]
Oct. 26, 1999, Business Wire reports that Fujitsu has
introduced its new LifeBook C Series laptop computer with
a 450MHz Mobile AMD K6-2-P CPU. Features available
include 13.3" XGA TFT and 12.1" SVGA TFT screens, built-in
DVD and CD-ROM drives, and up to 9GB HD. Prices start
at $1,499 US, beginning in November.
http://www.FPCDirect.com/
[1999/10/30]
Oct. 26, 1999, PR Newswire reports that Lexicus Division of Motorola,
Inc. has announced the availability of its iTAP(TM) intelligent
keypad entry system which supports Wireless Application Protocol
(WAP) and Short Messaging Service (SMS), to simplify text entry
for entering short messages. The system predicts the most
likely word entered from a dictionary of 40,000 set words and
allows users to add more words. The system is expected to be
included in Motorola's tri-band Timeport(TM) L7089 GSM phone this
quarter.
[1999/10/30]
Oct. 26, 1999, Business Wire reports that iBIZ Technology Corp.
has announced that its KeySync(TM) keyboard which works with
all 3Com Palm devices will be included in Pennwell Publishing's
"Software and Resources Guide for the Palm Computing(R) Platform."
http://www.ibizcorp.com/
[1999/10/30]
Oct. 26, 1999, Canada Newswire reports that Microcell Connexions
Inc. performed a live demonstation of 3rd generation wireless
capabilities including video-telephony, high-speed wireless Web
browsing and simultaneous transmission of video images, voice
and data at the 42nd GSM Association plenary.
http://www.gsm-pcs.org/
[1999/10/30]
Oct. 26, 1999, Canada News Wire reports that Rogers Cantel Inc. has announced two new wireless data services in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Cantel(R) AT&T(TM) Interactive Messaging service allows users to send and receive messages worldwide via Internet e-mail, and Cantel AT&T AirPOS(TM) is a wireless point of sale service which allows on the spot sales transactions. The Interactive Messaging uses the RIM Inter@ctive Pager 950 which features an Intel 386 processor and QWERTY keyboard, over the Cantel AT&T Mobitex network. The AirPOS system is supported by the Royal Bank and Scotiabank, using the IVI Checkmate Elite 780 terminal or Schlumberger Magic 9000 terminal.
Oct. 26, 1999, Business Wire report that Sony Corporation has
announced that for a limited time, it will sell a special edition
of its "AIBO" ERS-111 entertainment robot. Orders will be taken
from Nov. 1 - 8, 1999 only for delivery in the December holiday
season, for customers in the U.S., Japan and Europe.
AIBO streaming videoclip http://www.medialink.com/medialink/99-483.shtml
[1999/10/30]
Oct. 26, Canada News Wire reports that DY 4 Systems, Inc. has been
awarded a $1 million (US?) order by General Dynamics Information
Systems for upgrading the US F-18E/F Fighter's Advanced Mission
Computer and Display (AMCD) System. Each upgrade uses 4 Single
Board PowerPC(TM) based DMV-179 computers. [I would call this
"extreme mobile technology."]
[1999/10/30]
Oct. 25, 1999, Business Wire reports that Gateway, Inc. has announced
the release of its Solo(R) 2550 laptop computer powered by an Intel
Mobile Pentium III for under $2,000 US.
http://www.gateway.com/
[1999/10/30]
Oct. 25, 1999, Business Wire reports that Hewlett-Packard Company has
announced that its HP OmniBook 4150 and HP OmniBook 900 laptop computers
will use the new Intel Mobile Pentium(R) III processors and all HP
OmniBook 4150 and 900 laptop computers will use ATI RAGE Mobility(R)
graphics accelerators.
http://www.hp.com/omnibook/
[1999/10/30]
Oct. 25, 1999, Reuters reports that Cisco Systems Inc. has announced
that it will work with 10 high tech companies to establish a standard
method of wireless data transmission based on technology it has
acquired with its acquisition of Clarity Wireless, Inc. Cisco
says that it will make the technology available to its competitors
in order to establish the standard.
[1999/10/30]
Oct. 26, 1999, NEC has announced that it will use the Mobile Pentium III in three upcoming lines of laptop computers.
"In the coming weeks, NEC CSD plans to introduce three new lines of Versa notebook computers. Each system is designed to meet the varying degrees of functionality and portability that our customers require."
[Sorry, no time to summarize this article properly.
I'm running late.]
[1999/10/26]
Oct. 25, 1999, Compaq Canada has announced changes to its Armada
laptop computers. There are now five lines of Compaq Armada commercial
laptop portable computers:
Compaq Armada E500 takes over from Armada 1750 (Compaq's "all-in-one
design for 'workhorse' business needs").
Compaq Armada M300 ("ultraportable").
Compaq Armada V300 takes over from Armada 1500c (Compaq's "best value
notebook for the budget-conscious customer").
Compaq Armada E700, (Compaq's "powerhouse notebook for enterprise
customers.")
Compaq Armada M700 ("high performance, high mobility").
Compaq also announced price reductions on a number of its Armada
products.
[1999/10/26]
Oct. 25, 1999 Canada News Wire reports that IBM has announced changes in its ThinkPad lineup.
"The expanded lineup includes the new ThinkPad 600X with the ideal balance of performance and portability, the all-in-one ThinkPad 390X models that feature the new Intel Mobile Pentium III processor and finally, the popular ThinkPad 240 mini-notebook has been enhanced with a Mobile Intel Celeron processor at 366 MHz."
[Sorry, as mentioned above, I didn't have time to summarize this
article properly.]
[1999/10/26]
Oct. 22, 1999, Stephan Ohr writes for EE Times, that Frontier
Design claims to have a low cost ($1.40 US each in 500,000-piece
lots) speech recognition core with over 97% accuracy for control
applications.
[1999/10/26]
Oct. 21, 1999, Canada News Wire reports that Rogers Cantel
Mobile Communications Inc. (RCI) has announced its 1999 Q3
results (ending Sept. 30, 1999). Gross cellular activations
were 191,100, up 58,900 over 1998 Q3, and 99,000 more than
at the end of 1999 Q2, giving a total of 2,008,700 cellular
customers at Sept. 30, 1999. Roughly 775,000 customers were
on Digital PCS (about 38.6%) and 217,600 were using prepaid
"Pay as you Go" service. The average monthly churn rate
was 1.75% (down from 1.87% in Q3 1998). Average monthly
revenue per unit (ARPU) was $50, down $5 from 1999 Q3.
[1999/10/26]
Oct. 20, 1999, Canada News Wire reports that Clearnet Communications
Inc. and Sanyo Canada Inc. have announced that Clearnet will offer
the Sanyo SCP-4000 handset. Built exclusively for Clearnet, the
SCP-4000 is a dual mode handset with a blue "ClearGlo" backlight and
a unique navigation key, 133 g. weight, 3 hrs. talk time, ( up to
4.5 days standby), 300 entry phonebook, alarm clock, calculator, games
and vibrating "ringer", priced at $99.99 Cdn.
[1999/10/26]
Oct. 20, 1999, Business Wire reports that Sun showed its latest
developments for "Java 2 Platform Micro Edition" (J2ME) at the
PalmSource '99 Conference. [No delivery date has been given
yet.]
[1999/10/26]
Oct. 18, 1999, TRG has announced its new TRGPro handheld computer
based on the PalmOS platform but including a Compact Flash slot and
improved sound.
http://www.trgpro.com/
[1999/10/26]
Oct. 9, 1999, at Telecom '99, Siemens AG has announced plans for an
upcoming handheld computer called the "Siemens IC35 -- The Unifier".
Details were not provided, but Siemens expects to launch the product
in the coming year. [The picture shows a clamshell device roughly
the size of a Palm III with a monochrome grey scale display.
[Warning! This website crashed the Mac version of Netscape Navigator.
I don't know why, but it might not be accessible for some other
browsers as well. I eventually accessed it with a version of Navigator
on Windows 95.]
http://www.siemens.de/telecom99/
[1999/10/26]
Apparently, just laying out the facts isn't enough for some people so I'll take a moment to write what should be obvious. Prices for memory right now are substantially higher than a few months ago. How much higher? About 4X higher than mid-summer. Todays desk computer operating systems and applications take lots of memory. Furthermore, due to the Taiwan earthquake, there might be minor shortages of motherboards, and just about everything else. All these shortages will probably mean higher prices than one would otherwise have encountered.
Since the vast majority of people reading this already have computer equipment, the obvious conclusion is that while you might like to get something new, you probably don't really need it right now. So? Don't buy it. If you can put off purchases for say, 6 months, you'll probably save a bundle of money. In the meanwhile, buy some inlines and go skating.
Oh, many Palm computers and IBM WorkPad equivalents are made in the
US and Psion products (Series 5mx, etc.) are made in the UK. That
might help them a bit. I'm not so sure about that since various
components are made in the orient in general, and might come from
Taiwan, but those companies might be in a better position than some
with products that are made in Taiwan directly or near by. But
that's something you'll see in prices and availability, so don't
bother looking for it on the label -- look for the box on the shelf
and the price sticker.
[1999/10/23] revised [1999/10/26]
Oct. 21, 1999, The PalmOS 3.3 upgrade can now be downloaded from
3Com/Palm's website. Versions of the upgrade are available for
versions of the Palm handheld computers with Flash memory. Those
include the Palm III, Palm IIIx, Palm V, and version of older Palm
computers such as the "Palm Pilot Personal" and "Palm Pilot
Professional" which have been upgraded to the 3.0 (or later) software.
Palm Computing
downloads http://www.palm.com/custsupp/index.html
1999/10/23]
Oct. 19, 1999, Business Wire reports that Philips Semiconductors
has announced a telecommunications platform based on an ARM
processor and Philips "Reconfigurable Embedded DSP Architecture
Low Power/Low Cost (R.E.A.L.) Digital Signal Processor (DSP)
cores.
[1999/10/23]
Oct. 19, 1999, Canadian Corporate News reports that Wi-LAN has
announced that it has filed an intellectual property statement
with the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) offering
to make its "Multicode Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum" (MCDSSS)
patented technology available for licensing "on fair, reasonable
and non-discriminatory terms." The ITU is meeting in Helsinki
starting Oct. 25 for final consideration of its 3G standard.
Current CDMA assigns a single code to each user.
[1999/10/23]
Oct. 19, 1999, Business Wire reports that Thomas & Betts
Corporation claims that its new battery allows laptops
to run up to 12 hours between charges, which it claims is
"one of the longest run times in the battery industry."
The battery uses the company's "PLI cell" technology which
allows the battery to be made in a variety of shapes.
[Note: The actual chemical or physical storage method
is not described in this article.]
http://www.tnb.com/
[1999/10/23]
Oct. 19, 1999, Business Wire reports that National Semiconductor
Corporation (NS) and Communications Intelligence Corporation (CIC)
have announced that NS is licensing CIC's Jot(R) handwriting
recognition system for its Geode(TM) WEbPAD(TM) reference
design. The WebPAD is a "portable wireless personal access
device." The Geode WebPAD also currently features the QNX
operating system and Geode GXLV CPU, including x86 core, sound,
graphics, memory controller and PCI interface.
[1999/10/23]
Oct. 19, 1999, Business Wire reports that AKM Semiconductor
introduced its AK4550 2.5V 16-bit stereo Codec which is claimed
to consume 25mW of power. Appropriate for consumer applications
such as MP3 players, it costs $2.73 in quantities of 5,000 pieces.
http://www.akm.com/
[1999/10/23]
Oct. 18, 1999, Canada News Wire reports that Rogers Cantel Inc.
has announced that it has commenced "Pay As You Go" wireless
services in Windsor and Brantford, Ontario. Each $25 Cdn. card
allows 60 minutes of calling in Canada (about $.042 per minute),
including long distance and calls between "Pay As You Go" users
are free for the receiving user.
[1999/10/23]
Oct. 18, 1999, Palm Computing, Inc. has announced availability
of "Palm(TM) HotSync(R) server software", the "Palm(TM) Ethernet
cradle," and an enterprise service and support program. The
Palm Hotsync server allows cross-platform sychronization by
supporting both Palm OS and Microsoft Windows CE based devices.
The "enterprise service and support program" includes help desk
training, on site service exchange and an extended warranty
program.
http://www.palm.com/enterprise/
[1999/10/23]
Oct. 17, 1999, Reuters reports that Motorola Inc. and
Philippe Kahn have invested a combined total of over $8 million
US in OpenGrid Inc. which is writing switching software for
wireless messaging. It is expected that this software will be
used by the wireless version of America Online's Instant
Messaging software.
[1999/10/23]
Oct. 15, 1999, Canada News Wire reports that Clearnet Communications
Inc. has announced that the i700plus Internet-ready digital wireless
phone is now available for use with the Mike service. Prices start
at $129 Cdn. According to Clearnet, later this year, Mike users will
be able to use its built in microbrowser to access the Internet or
intranet or extranet Web sites. Currently, the handset can be used
to directly connect to normal computer serial ports.
[1999/10/19]
Oct. 15, 1999, Canada News Wire reports that Bell Mobility has
announced four new "Digital North America" service plans. The
plans are DNA 200, DNA 400, DNA 800 and DNA 1600, replacing
DNA 350 and DNA 2000. The plans feature flat rate calling
throughout 95% of North America.
[1999/10/19]
Oct. 14, 1999, Canada News Wire reports that Microcell Telecommunications
Inc. has announced that it has added 54,815 customers in Q3 1999,
for a total of 459,392 subscribers as of Sept. 30, 1999, compared
to 180,838 at on Sept. 30, 1998. Of the new subscribers in the
quarter, 22,322 (41%) use postpaid service. Post gurantee period
churn rate for the quarter was 2.4%, down from 2.8% for the same
quarter a year ago.
[1999/10/19]
Oct. 14, 1999, Canada News Wire reports that Rogers Cantel has
announced that it has applied to Industry Canada for a 2.5 GHz
Multipoint Communications Services (MCS) license for British
Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, Quebec and the Eastern Ontario and
Outaouais Region.
[1999/10/19]
Oct. 14, 1999, PR Newswire reports that Penguin Books Ltd. and
Microsoft Corp. have announced that they will create and distribute
an eBook CD containing "a selection from Penguin Classics" and
the Microsoft(R) Reader.
[1999/10/19]
Oct. 13, 1999, Canada News Wire reports that Clearnet Communications Inc. has announced its 1999 Q3 subscriber numbers.
3 Months Ended 3 Months Ended
Sept. 30, 1999 Sept. 30, 1998
Digital
- Net Subscriber
additions 56,205 48,148
- total subscribers
end of period 464,708 242,703
- churn per month
(after 30 day
guarantee) 1.81% 1.61%
Mike
- Net Subscriber
additions 23,505 13,650
- total subscribers
end of period 176,335 87,743
- churn per month
(after 30 day
guarantee) 1.59% 1.33%
PCS
- Net Subscriber
additions 32,700 34,498
- total subscribers
end of period 288,373 154,960
- churn per month
(after 30 day
guarantee) 1.95% 1.76%
Analogue SMR net
subscriber additions (4,375) (5,263)
Total Net Subscriber
additions 51,830 42,885
[1999/10/19]
Oct. 13, 1999, Reuters reports that Motorola Inc. and America
Online Inc have announced that they will develop the AOL Instant
Messenger software for Motorola's wireless devices such as the
Timeport P1088 smart phone and the Timeport P930 two-way pager.
[1999/10/19]
Oct. 13, 1999, PR Newswire reports that Network Associates Inc.'s NAI Labs "Anti-Virus Emergency Response Team" (AVERT) has assessed the Melissa.U and Melissa.V viruses as "medium risk." They spread rapidly via E-Mail and delete data. They arrive via E-Mail. The viruses are in infected "Word" attachments. For Melissa.U, the title is "pictures" and the body will say "what's up?" The NORMAL.DOT file will be infected. A MAPI email client is invoked and mail is sent to the first 4 email addresses (can include distribution lists). Then the following files are deleted: c:\command.com, c:\io.sys, d:\command.com, d:\io.sys, d:\Ntdetect.com, c:\Suhdlog.dat, and d:\Suhdlog.dat. This renders the system inoperable.
For Melissa.V the title will be "My Pictures" and the body will be
blank. The MAPI client sends infected E-Mail to the first 40
addresses in the Address Book. Then directories and files are deleted
with the following letters in this order: M, N, O, P, Q, S, F, I,
X, Z, H, L.
http://www.nai.com/
http://www.McAfee.com/
[1999/10/19]
This month's issue of the computer paper is focused on handheld
technology and the Internet. I have two articles on Psion products,
there is a large article comparing a number of handheld computers,
the Handspring Visor and the Psion Revo are both mentioned, there is
a unique long term report on the Sharp Mobilon HC-4500, and more.
November Issue of Computer Paper: http://www.tcp.ca/1999/9911/toc/
My first article for the issue is a brief report on the newly announced Psion "netBook".
netBook announcement: http://www.tcp.ca/1999/9911/handheld/psion/psion.html
My second article is a review of the Psion Series 5mx. The final
edit has some problems, but unlike the "Palm v. daVinci" article
I mentioned earlier, I currently don't feel the problems are
sufficient for me to request a correction. However, I'll comment
on some of the more noticeable issues.
Psion Series 5mx Review:
http://www.tcp.ca/1999/9911/handheld/psion5mx/psion5mx.html
Article Title On Web Page: "Survivor of pocket World War I"
"Psion Series 5mx a handheld computer without peer"
Comment: I didn't really like my original title, which was was
"Psion Series 5mx: Peerless Survivor of Pocket World War I".
If I'd had more time I probably would have changed it. The magazine
dropped the "Survivor of Pocket World War I" completely, and I think
that was the best version.
Article: "Basic specifications
Size: 17 x 9 x 2.3 cm (6.63 x 3.51 x 0.9 in.)"
Comment: I measured the thickness of the Series 5mx as 26.5 mm.
The difference is due to the rubber feet, which Psion didn't include.
As far as I'm concerned, these measurements are understood to mean
"overall" dimensions, not "average thickness." An independent
magazine should publish what the reader wants, not what the
manufacturers PR department wants.
Article: "Batteries: two AA, or one CR-2032"
Comment: The Series 5mx uses 2 AA main batteries and 1 CR-2032 as a
backup battery. I suppose, in truth you really could use even the 1
CR-2032 alone, just to hold data for a while, so it's not technically
an incorrect statement, but. . . .
Article: "Infrared beaming
Using the Series 5mx's infrared feature, I transferred files to and
from a Palm IIIx, an NEC MP-400, and a Compaq C Series 2010c. So while
transfers of simple text files to and from the Palm IIIx all failed, I
succeeded in beaming individual Contact items in both directions."
Comment: This one is partly my fault. What I originally wrote was that
"Beaming cross-platform was tested to and from a Palm IIIx and Windows
CE 2.0 in an NEC MP-400 and a Compaq C Series 2010c. The Series 5mx
supports vCard, vCalendar, IrOrbex standards. So while transfers of simple
text files all failed, using the latest Palm IIIx, I succeeded in beaming
individual Contact items in both directions." Aside from the obvious
grammar error in the 2nd sentence, I thought I'd said clearly enough that
the test was conducted with the various mentioned computers -- not that
the test was successful. In fact, as the 3rd sentence points out, the
transfers of simple text files all failed. The poor writing was a result
of my trying to shorten the report which originally included a list of
all the transfer attempts in a table with the word "failed" repeated for
each attempt. I decided the table was a waste of space. Unfortunately,
I did a bad job of editing, and the copy editor was justifiably confused.
This raises an interesting point about beaming: Although you can't directly beam a simple text file between a Series 5mx an a Palm IIIx, you *can* copy/paste a short text note into a text attachment for a "Contact" or "agenda" item and then beam it between the devices. There is probably a size limit to this, but you have people with whom you want to share short messages with, you could keep a "Contact" item named "beaming dummy" handy for such transfers.
Display response test Psion Psion Compaq NEC
Series 5mx Series 5 C-Series MP-400
2010
HTML page render time
(sec.): 44.8 77.0 15.8 42.6
JPEG render time
(sec.): 381.2 NA 9.2 15.5
Notes:
Psion
Series 5mx Palm IIIx
File size (KB) 311 124
6 char., 1 found
(sec.) 3.4 3.1
6 char., 8 found
(sec.) 3.8 3.7
4 char., 16 found
(sec.) 4.2 3.8
Notes:
Oct. 12, 1999, Canada News Wire reports that Bell Mobility has
announced that Bell Mobility Mobile Browser-enabled Digital
PCS users will have access it financial information from
iMoney "this week."
[1999/10/16]
Oct. 12, 1999, Eric Auchard writes for Reuters that Dell Computer
Corp. has bought $200 million US in convertible bonds from Samsung
Electronics as part of a 5 year supply deal worth about $8.5
billion US. Samsung will use the money to increase LCD production.
The deal is non-exclusive, but Dell expects preferential treatment.
[1999/10/16]
Oct. 12, 1999, Associated Press reported that Nokia was rumoured
to be in talks to license 3Com's Palm Computing software for portable
phones. [In fact, as I write this, an announcement has been made,
but the situation is not quite the correct. The official announcement
was that PalmOS and Symbian EPOC would both be used in these device.
There is a lot about this plan that has not been made clear yet.]
[1999/10/16]
Oct. 11, 1999, Jack Robertson writes for Electronic Buyers' News
that DRAM is now essentially "sold out" for 1999 Q4 and shortages
of all types of RAM are being predicted for Q1 of 2000.
[1999/10/16]
Oct. 11, 1999, Business Wire reports that Compaq has announced its
"Aero GSM Connectivity Suite" which allows a Compaq Aero palm-size
PC to be used with a GSM mobile phone to access Internet-based data.
The kit supports "Internet and email, . . . the Web . . . WAP
send and receive faxes and SMS messages."
http://vcmproapp04.compaq.com/telecom99/press.html
[1999/10/16]
Oct. 11, 1999, IBM and Nokia announced a global partnership to
develop and market WAP systems. IBM will market and distribute
Nokia WAP Server software on PC servers and license Nokia core
WAP technology for integration with other IBM server platforms.
http://www.wapforum.org/
http://www.nokia.com/corporate/wap/
[1999/10/16]
Oct. 11, 1999, Business Wire reports that according to Dataquest's
"1998 Microcontroller Market Share and Unit Shipments" report,
Motorola is still the leader in microcontrollers with top position
in four categories: "microcontroller revenue market share" (18%),
revenue from 8-bit microcontrollers" (25.2%), "unit shipment of
microcontrollers" (15.5%), and "unit shipment of 8-bit
microcontrollers" (22.6%). Motorola's 1998 worldwide semiconductor
sales were $7.3 billion US.
[1999/10/16]
Oct. 11, 1999, Guy Middleton writes for TechWeb that Puma Technology
has announced plans to provide a Web-based synchronization service
based on its proprietary Intellisync technology early next year.
The service will allow users to synchronize data between handheld
computers, phones and pagers.
[1999/10/16]
Oct. 10, 1999, Associated Press reports that according to government and business leaders speaking at the United Nations sponsored Telecom 99, "The boom of the Internet will be further fueled by newer, cheaper browsing devices. . . [and] industry investments that will greatly expand transmission capacity." According to Lou Gerstner, CEO of IBM, "there will be 600 million PCs in the world by 2003, but . . . they would be joined by more than 2 billion handheld devices and many billions of card, TVs, tools, appliances and vending machines all on the internet."
Announcements included Nokia Corp.'s WAP based 7110 handset which
should be available to some consumers in Europe within the next
few weeks and in the US next year, Alcatel who will market a WAP
mobile phone in "mid-October".
[1999/10/16]
Oct. 9, 1999, Mark Hachman writes for Electronic Buyers News,
Oct. 4, 1999, that Microprocessor Forum was expected to be dominated
by powerful embedded processors, and particularly 64-bit processors
by Hitachi Ltd. and ST Microelectronics sharing the SH-5, and by
MIPS TEchnologies Inc. with its MIPS64 5Kc. Also expected were
IBM Microelectronics, expected to show its PowerPC 440 (32-bit core)
and National Semiconductor Corp. describing its SC1400 version of
its Geode. Hitachi and ST Microelectronics will be producing the
SH-5 using 0.15-micron standard CMOS process, in the 2nd half of 2000.
The core is rated at 400MHz (scaleable to 650MHz), with 604 Dhrystone
2.1 mips, consuming less than 1 W at 1.5V. A key addition to SH-5
will be a set of multimedia instructions. SH-4 will also be made
using this process. The MIPS 64 5Kc claims 1,200 mips/W performance.
300 - 375 MHz versions are expected by the end of this year. IBM's
440 will use IBM's 0.18-micron copper-interconnect process. The
"dual-issue" seven-stage pipeline will achieve around 400 - 555-MHz
speeds, yielding around 1,000 Dhrystone 2.1 mips at 555MHz.
[1999/10/16]
Oct. 8, 1999, Guy Middleton writes for TechWeb that Philips has
announced that it is planning to cease production of Windows CE
handheld computers due to poor sales. Philips has recently
announced that it will licence Phone.com's WAP browser, but has
not said what OS it will run on.
[1999/10/12]
Oct. 8, 1999, Jack Robertson writes For Electronic Buyers' News
that according to DisplaySearch, LCD manufacturers will only meet
about 86% of demand for TFT-LCD screens for laptop computers this
year. Furthermore, the shortage is expect to continue into 2000
which will result in only 93% of demand being filled. However,
an oversupply condition is expected in 2001.
[1999/10/12]
Oct. 7, 1999, Business Wire reports that Central Command and
Kaspersky Lab have announced the discovery of a Windows NT virus
called "WinNT.Infis" which is the first computer virus found
"in-the-wild" that integrates into the highest security level
of the Windows NT operating system. The virus acts as a
"Windows NT driver" and is file infecting. It attacks Windows
NT 4.0 with Service Packs 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 installed, but not
Windows 95, 98, 2000 or other versions of Windows NT. Signs
of the virus are the file "INF.SYS" in "/WinNT/System32/Drivers"
and the inability to run some popular applications such as
MSPAINT.EXE, CALC.EXE and CDPLAYER.EXE. Detection and removal
has been added to AntiViral Toolkit Pro (AVP).
http://www.avp.com/
[1999/10/12]
Oct. 7, 1999, Business Wire reports that Quicknet Technologies, Inc.
has announced its Internet PhoneCARD Type II PCMCIA card with hardware
compression for full duplex voice over IP. The card requires a
Pentium 133MHz or faster CPU, and Windows 95/98, Windows NT 4 or
Linux OS. It will be available in November for $159.95 US.
http://www.quicknet.net/
[1999/10/12]
Oct. 7, 1999, Business Wire reports that IBM has introduced its new Travelstar E external HD which uses a standard PC-Card interface and gives 10GB. IBM claims that the external drive is more rugged than standard internal drives. Available later this month for the US market, the prices are $449 US for 8GB or $549 US for 10GB.
IBM also announced a new record for storage density with its
achieving 35.3 billion bits per square inch on a magnetic HD.
http://www.ibm.com/harddrive/
[1999/10/12]
Oct. 7, 1999, Marguerite Nugent writes for Reuters that BP Amoco Plc., Exxon Corp. and Chevron Corp. have said that they will put up signs warning of the possibility of starting fires if wireless phones are used near gas pumps. The warnings have been contained in the phone manuals for years, and it is now an issue in Europe.
For the record, I have had shocks from the antenna of my Sony
CDMA handset. I expect this is relatively rare, but over time, I
also expect that most people will experience them. While there has
never been an instance of a fire confirmed to have been caused by
a cell phone, a spark is a spark, and if you understand the laws
of probability, and gaseous solutions, you will know that it is
possible that such a fire might occur, and in time, it will probably
eventually occur. It's not as dangerous as lighting a cigarette
around a gas pump, but then again, I've seen people who do that as
well. So while some people will make fun of the situation, I think
the gas station companies are doing the right thing.
[1999/10/12]
Oct. 7, 1999, Canadian Corporate News reports that Webraska Mobile
Technologies SA has announced that it has been awarded a Patent
for "an interactive process for use as a nagivational aid and
device for its implimentation." According to the article, "the
invention relates to a system to be used as a navigation aid
comprising a mobile terminal wirelessly linked to a centralised
server, and mroe specifically to the improvements required to
convert a mobile phone into a complete and precise navigational
aid system."
http://www.webraska.com/press/99-0ct-06-IbDN-eng.html
[1999/10/12]
Oct. 7, 1999, Canadian Corporate News reports that Ericsson Canada,
Microcell Connexions and Telesystems International Wireless (TIW)
claim to have used Ericsson's WCDMA 3rd generation wireless system
for a multimedia conversation.
http://www.ericsson.se/pressroom/
[1999/10/12]
Oct. 6, 1999, BCE Emergis reports that Bell Mobility has added the
ability to access E-Mail from standard POP3 accounts through its
"Mobile Browser" service. The "Mobile Browser" service was originally
announced in May 1999, providing Web type content through "sympatico.ca"
or other "wireless enabled" sites. Handsets currently supported
include Qualcomm QCP2700 or QCP2700F. The Nokia 6165 and Neopoint will
also be "Mobile Browser-enabled" in the future. There is no monthly
service charge, but customers are charged $0.15/min., billed by the
second. [It is unclear in the article whether this means that the
charge mentioned is on top of the normal contract fees. Also, although
it does not say so in this article, the "Mobile Browser" service was
a WAP service.]
[1999/10/12]
Oct. 6, 1999, Business Wire reports that Motorola, Inc. has
introducted its "Mobile Internet Exchange(TM) (MIX) communications
platform by which Motorola claims, "mobile consumers can obtain
necessary information anywhere via the Internet." According to
Maria Martinez, general manager and vice president, Motorola Internet
and Connectivity Solutions Division (ICSD) "Motorola expects that
by 2005, one billion people will be using the Internet and accessing
it from wireless connections."
http://www.Motorola-MIX.com/
[1999/10/12]
Oct. 6, 1999, Canada News Wire reports that Rogers Cantel Inc.
has announced that it has signed over 50,000 subscriptions for
Cantel AT&T Pay As You Go service since its July introduction.
The company has announced a limited time promotion to expand
on this. For every new subscriber referred, Cantel will give
a current user $25 of free airtime.
[1999/10/12]
Oct. 4, 1999, Psion has launched its new pocket sized handheld
computer the "Revo". Based on a 36MHz ARM 170 RISC core
and Symbian EPOC Release 5 software, the Revo costs $399 US.
http://www.psionusa.com/
http://www.psion.com/revo/
[1999/10/09]
Oct. 5, 1999, Business Wire reports that according to National
Semiconductor Corporation, VTech Industries two new information
appliances, the "VTech e-Mail Express(TM)" and "e-Mail PostBox(TM)"
both use the National(R) Geode(TM) NSC1028 16 bit RISC processor.
The Express is hand holdable and weighs 7 oz. and costs $79.99 US.
The PostBox features a "full size" keyboard and costs $99.99 US.
VTech also provides email services for these devices at $10.00 US
per month.
http://vtechworld.com/
[1999/10/09]
Oct. 5, 1999, Business Wire reports that AMD has unveiled its
plans for coming 64-bit processors. Instead of using the Intel
Merced instruction set model AMD has announced a new instruction
set which will be an extension of the current "x86" instruction
set, including the current instructions. The eighth generation
processor is currently code named "Sledgehammer." AMD also
announced work on a new chip-to-chip system buss called Lightning
Data Transport (LDT) which will support speeds up to 6.4 GB/sec.,
far advanced over current interconnects which reach up to 266
MB/sec.
http://www.amd.com/
[1999/10/09]
Oct. 5, 1999, Scott Tiazkun writes for Computer Reseller News that
Seibel Systems has announced that it will release a series of
sales support applications for Windows CE. The first part is,
"Siebel Sales Handheld software". Information will synchronize
with major database systems. [It is unclear whether this software
is immediately available, but the cost is $1,000 US.]
[1999/10/09]
Oct. 4, 1999, Business Wire reports that Hewlett-Packard Company
has introduced its first "retail" laptop Windows computer, the
"HP Pavilion Notebook PC." The distinction between a "retail"
product and a "business" product is mainly a question to whom
HP will sell it and to a lesser extent, what comes with it as
a standard part of the package. There is a set of included software
packages that HP seems to believe would be of general interest
(including Internet software, Quicken BASIC 99, Microsoft Money 99,
Microsoft Encarta Encyclopaedia 99, Microsoft Works, Rand McNally
Route Planner and Outlook Express).
HP Pavilion notebook PC: Intel(R) Celeron(TM) 433MHz CPU, 4GB HD,
32MB SDRAM, Silicon Motion Lynx video graphics accelerator, 12.1"
HPA display, 24X CD-ROM drive, 56K v.90 modem, estimated street
price $1,399 US.
[1999/10/09]
Oct. 4, 1999, Business Wire reports that Evolv Adaptive
Technology has released a trial version of its point of sale
software for the PalmOS devices called "Skipjack Runabout".
http://www.skipjackic.com/palm/
[1999/10/09]
Oct. 2, 1999, Responsive Database Services reports that according
to Network World, Sept. 27, 1999, IBM is developing software that
reduces data transmissions on the internet. [This is a filtering
system which will, for example reduce a colour JPEG image to a
monochrome, reducing the file size.]
[1999/10/09]
Sorry for the delay of this posting, but I was actually waiting
for another announcement which has not arrived. Next time. . . .
[1999/10/06]
Oct. 4, 1999, - 3Com Canada Inc. has announced immediate availability
its new Palm Vx.
Palm Vx: 8MB of memory, faster HotSync synchronization speed, synchronize
data between the product's infrared port and the infrared port on a
desktop or laptop computer, estimated street price of $679 Cdn.
3Com has also announced "The Palm Colour Shades Kit," a new accessory kit for its Palm III family devices which includes flip covers, in translucent lime, blue and aqua, plus three black stylii and is available at retail outlets for $19.95 Cdn.
3Com has also announced the following estimated street prices:
Palm V $579 Cdn (down from $679), Palm IIIx $449 Cdn (down from $549 Cdn),
and the Palm IIIe $279 (down from $329 Cdn).
[1999/10/04]
Oct. 4, 1999, 3Com has announced Palm VII availability across the
continental US. The Palm VII also now features a new "expanded
monthly service plan" for heavy users and third-party applications
allowing users to connect to a variety of e-mail systems via their
Palm VII organizers. 3Com also has announced that the Palm VII will
be launched in Canada in 2000 and is expected to retail for less
$900 Cdn.
[1999/10/06]
Oct. 1, 1999, Associated Press reports that Dell has added
Tahoe Blue and Storm Gray options for Inspiron laptop computers.
[1999/10/04]
Oct. 1, 1999, Business Wire reports that according to Telecompetition
Inc., Personal Communication Services (PCS) mid year "net additions"
surpassed net additions for cellular providers for the first time.
The company projects that by the end of 1999, PCS will hold 23% of
the 96 million US wireless subscribers.
[1999/10/04]
Oct. 1, 1999, Yoshiko Hara writes for EE Times that Eastman Kodak
and Sanyo Electric have jointly developed a 2.4" 852 * 222 pixel
colour active-matrix organic LED display panel. Sanyo is not
planning volume production till 2001. The companies have also
shown a prototype of a 1.3" colour passive organic LED which will
be marketed in 2000. Sanyo expects sales for the passive display
to be in the cellular telephone market.
[1999/10/04]
Sept. 30, 1999, Reuters reports that IBM has announced coloured covers for the "ThinkPad i" series laptop computers. Retailing at $29.99 US, the covers include Mars red metallic, Terra green metallic, Andromeda, and Sirius red and Polaris blue.
IBM also announced illuminated keyboards for ThinkPad 1460 and 1480
for low light usage.
[1999/10/04]
Sept. 30, 1999, Business Wire reports that Hewlett-Packard Company
has announced a price reduction for its HP CD-Writer Plus M820e
portable "re-writable" drive which writes at 4x and reads at 20x.
Estimated street price is $399 US down from $599 US.
[1999/10/04]
Sept. 29, 1999, Canada News Wire reports that Clearnet Communications
Inc. has announced enhancements to its wireless PCS service plans.
For an added $5 per month users will now have an extra 100 minutes
per month. All previously included features are unchanged.
[1999/10/04]
Sept. 28, 1999, Canada News Wire reports that Microcell Solutions Inc. has announced changes to its prepaid Fidomatic(TM) PCS service. As a "promotion", beginning Oct. 1, 1999, a $50 (Cdn) prepaid airtime voucher will be worth 225 minutes instead of 142 minutes and a $25 (Cdn) prepaid airtime voucher will be worth 100 minutes instead of 71 minutes. This promotion will run to Dec. 31, 1999 or while voucher supplies last. Vouchers are valid for 60 days.
New to the Fidomatic offering is a "pay-per-use Personal Voice Messaging" option. Message (up to one minute in length) in the voice mailbox will be charged at the regular airtime rate plus $0.15/min. to retrieve the message. Numeric messaging is also included. Fidomatic also includes Call Waiting, Call Forwarding and airtime calculated to the minute.
A starter package costs $125 including a Mitsubishi handset ($50),
a smart card ($25) and a $50 prepaid airtime voucher. According to
Microcell, the battery allows up to 5 hours of talk time.
[1999/10/02]
Sept. 28, 1999, Business Wire report that Hewlett-Packard Company has
announced it Chai Appliance Platform which includes ChaiVM 4.0,
"a scalable virtual machine for Java(TM) applications" which has
new features for improved "real-time" performance.
[1999/10/02]
Sept. 28, 1999, Stuart Glascock writes for TechWeb that Traveling
Software has changed its name to LapLink.com and released its new
"LapLink 2000". The new product is available now for $169.00 US
for Windows 3.1, 95, 98 and NT systems. New features include
"dual-level encryption, lock-out protection, case-sensitive
passwords, and folder-level security." Also supported is concurrent
voice-over IP for two way voice connection simultaneously with
computer connection over a single telephone line.
[1999/10/02]
Sept. 27, 1999, Business Wire reports that Compaq Computer Corporation
has announced two new Presario laptop computers:
Presario 1800T, Intel Celeron 466MHz CPU, 6X-DVD drive, 18GB HD
starting at $1,999 US.
Presario1600s, 14.1" TFT display, AMDK-2 400MHz (up to 475MHz optional)
starting at $1,799 US.
[1999/10/02]
Sept. 27, 1999, Business Wire reports that National Semiconductor
and QNX Software Systems have announced an alliance for pursuing
the information appliance market. They intend to co-develop a
series of reference platforms. Their first product, the WebPAD
SDK is available now in limited quantities.
http://www.national.com/webpad/
[1999/10/02]
Sept. 25, 1999, Responsive Database Services reports that Loring
Wirbel wrote for Electronic Engineering Times, Sept. 20, 1999,
that DSP Communications Inc. would show its "sixth generation"
CDMA chipset at the New Orleans PCS show. The D6011 implements
the full Phase One 1XRTT standards for cdma2000. It uses
an ARM7TDMI RISC core and DSP Communications' Teak DSP core.
[1999/09/28]
Sept. 24, 1999, George Leopold and Rick Merritt write for
Semiconductor Business News that the damage caused by the
Taiwan earthquake is being estimated at $300 million US.
AMD is being affected because boards using its new Athlon
chip are being delayed. GVC and Microstar have halted
production of the Athlon boards and First International
Computer is running at 60% capacity, leaving FIC as the
only full capacity producer. According to the article,
Taiwan produces 13 - 15% of the world's semiconductors,
80% of PC motherboards, 2/3rds of the wafers (silicon)
and 5 - 6% of the DRAM. The articles says that "[A]ccording
to Taiwan's Institute of Information Industry, total hardware
production topped $33 billion [US] in 1998."
[1999/09/28]
Sept. 23, 1999, Business Wire reports that Motorola has introduced
its new V700 word message pager is able to receive full text
messages from the Internet or from E-Mail servers. The V700 is
available in FLEX(R) and POCSAG protocol versions. and will cost
about $150 US and is available through paging service providers.
[1999/09/28]
Sept. 22, 1999, PR Newswire reports that Motorola has announced
a series of wireless communications products they call the
"Motorola Timeport collection. Included are digital wireless
phones P8160 and P8167 which feature internet capabilities,
P8097 which is a dual band/dual mode TDMO 800/1900 and AMPS
handset, the Timeport Clip-On Organizer, Timeport P730 Information
Pager text pager which can receive personal pages and information
services, P730 graphics pager, Timeport P930 Two-Way pager.
[1999/09/28]
Sept. 22, 1999, PR Newswire reports that Motorola has announced
its new "TalkAbout(R)" series of wireless communications products
which includes wireless phones, pagers and two-way radios. The
newest product is the T289 two-way radio which operates on the
"Family Radio Service" frequency, having a range of up to two
miles depending on conditions.
[1999/0928]
Sept. 21, 1999, Business Wire reports that Motorola has announced
that beginning in Q1, 2000, "iDEN(R) plus" series telephone handsets
introduced in 1999, will be upgradeable for new features by downloading
programs from the internet to a local PC and then installing the
programs from the PC into the handset. Motorola has also introduced
an SDK to help develop software to interface iDEN handsets with
Palm(TM) connected organizers, Windows CE devices and PCs.
[1999/09/25]
Sept. 21, 1999, Canada News Wire reports that Bell Mobility has
launched its new "SOLO" prepaid package. Prices start at $99 Cdn.
The package contains one of three possible phones, a T-shirt,
battery, charger, a prepaid start-up card with 20 min. of talk
time and a manual. The phones are flip phones with vibrating
alert, belt clip and headset. The phones are Motorola DPC650e
for $99, Motorola StarTAC 3000 for $179 or Nokia 282 for $229.
Talk time costs $0.35 per minute for local calls and and added
$0.35 per minute for long distance calls to Canada and the
United States.
[1999/09/25]
Sept. 21, 1999, PR Newswire reports that EMUmail's Hobomail.com
site can be used by Palm VII users as a proxy to access POP3 based
email accounts. The service is provided for free, but will not
be acceptable for those who need strict security. For those
people who want or need strict security, the HoboServer system
is available for $1,250 US and is available for Windows NT or
Unix systems.
http://www.hobomail.com/
[1999/09/25]
Sept. 21, 1999, PR Newswire reports that the Open eBook (OEB)
Authoring Group has released the final version of Open eBook
Publication Structure 1.0.
http://www.openebook.org/
also see:
The Electronic Book '99 Conference http://www.itl.nist.gov/div895/ebook99/
[1999/09/25]
Sept. 21, 1999, Canadian Corporate News reports that SnapTrack, Inc. has
announced that it has proven by independently audited tests that
its Enhanced GPS(TM) systems are capable of meeting US FCC
"wireles public safety" requirements.
[1999/09/25]
Sept. 20, 1999, Mark Hachman and Andrew MacLellan writes for
Electronic Buyers' News that early reports from the earthquake
in Taiwan appear to show that no serious harm was done to
"brick and mortar" facilities of Taiwan's semiconductor industry
but electrical outages [and, one expects, human injury] may
cause problems.
[1999/09/25]
Sept. 20, 1999, Business Wire reports that Compaq Computer
Corporation has introduced its new Aero(R) 1530 palm-size handheld
Windows CE based computer.
Aero 1530: 16 levels grey display, 12.7mm (0.5") thick, less than
5 oz., 14 hrs. use Lithium-Ion battery, QMenu, QUtilities and
File Explorer software, available immediately at $299 US including
docking cradle.
[1999/09/25]
Sept. 20, 1999, Business Wire reports that Compaq Computer Corporation
has introduced its new Aero(R) 2180 colour palm-size computer.
Aero 2180: 64K colours reflective TFT display, 24MB memory, QMenu,
QUtilities, File Explorer software, available immediately at $449 US with
docking cradle.
Compaq has also announced price reductions for the Aero 2110 ($369 US
down from $399 US) and the Aero 2150 ($399 US down from $499 US).
[1999/09/25]
Sept. 20, 1999, Business Wire reports that IBM has announced its new
ThinkPad 390X portable computer that features a 15" LCD display,
a user upgradeable "all in one" design and a low price of $1,999 US.
Processors available are the Intel(R) Mobile Pentium(R) II 400MHz
or Intel Mobile Celeron(TM) at 400MHz.
[1999/09/25]
Sept. 20, 1999, Junko Yoshida writes for EE Times that a start-up
company, Mainbrace is launching a "ready - to - manufacture"
Windows CE based Portable Data Terminal (PDT) platform called
the FastTrack PDT. According to Thomas Wong, president of
Mainbrace "OEMs can put a new embedded system on their production
line within eight to 12 weeks." Based on an ARM720 32-bit RISC
CPU and a 320 * 240 monochrome display with touchscreen, the
product is already found its first customer, Askey International
which is developing its palm-size PC product "MobileLink" based
on this platform.
[1999/09/25]
Sept. 17, 1999, Associated Press reports that the French Finance
Minister has said that the French antitrust, fraud and market
surveillance agencies are investigating complaints against business
practices of Microsoft Corp. following complaints from French
consumers who say they don't want to be forced to buy Microsoft
Windows every time they buy a computer.
[1999/09/21]
Sept. 16, 1999, Madeleine Acey writes for TechWeb that at Sun's ".com conference and exhibition" the major theme was "[a] different Internet-linked appliance for every occasion is coming in the near future. . . ."
[I'm going to take a moment to comment about what Ms. Acey felt came out of the conference. First, this site attempts to integrate the developments in the real world and put them in perspective by applying my own theories of optimization. Over the years I have stated principles such as "one size doesn't fit all" and the goal of "having information, where you want it, when you want it, in a form you want it, at an acceptable cost." I have never believed that the Internet is necessarily the best approach, nor do I believe that "mobile IT" is necessarily the best approach. All possibilities should be explored. Anyway, let's look at this:According to a panel chaired by John Gage, "[t]he future fo personal computing is not about choosing between a PC or a thin Internet Appliance, but between services at different times and locations for different needs and network connectivity." I disagree. This is a narrow minded approach. See above comment re. "information, where you want it. . . ."
Per Juha Christensen of Symbian, "[c]ommon protocols and cheap development technology will reach a billion handheld networked devices in use by 2003." Maybe true. I give out numbers like this, assuming I feel they are reasonably believable, because readers like them and businesses need them for planning. Personally I don't care about them. I care about what *I* buy and find useful.
Per Geoffrey Baehr "What will really drive this year is protocols . . . . People have realized it's an IP world." He also mentions Bluetooth as a cheap network. Well this is sort of right and wrong. Protocols are important, but end users really care about what protocol is used yet. End users care about services and products that work -- that do what they want. What the end user will want is "information, where you want it, . . . ."
Per Christensen of Symbian on multiple devices "[y]ou might see people using a small device they can stick in their jeans for going out to dinner and a bigger one for taking notes in meetings. This is not a one-size-fits-all market." Well, I clearly agree with that.
Per Daryl Plummer refering to a specific example he gave, "[t]he device would be less interesting to the user than the service." I think that's how most people look at all this technology. [1999/09/18]
Sept. 15, 1999, Larry Greenemeier writes for Information Week that
IBM's ThinkPad 600E has become the first mobile computer certified
by Red Hat Software to run Red Hat Linux 6.0. According to Tim
Eades, customer-segment marketing manager for the worldwide ThinkPad
brand, IBM plans further announcements for more versions of Linux
(including Caldera Systems, TurboLinux and SuSe) and on more ThinkPad
models.
[1999/09/21]
Sept. 15, 1999, Business Wire reports that Compaq Computer Corporation
has introduced its Presario 300 Series portable computer, which the
article calls an "Internet mini-notebook PC". Compaq also announced
a "USB home phoneline networking adapter for notebooks enabling
consumers to network Presario notebooks and desktops throughout the
home."
Presario 300 Series: Intel Mobile Celeron CPU, 64MB RAM, 56Kbps
modem, Compaq Internet Zone, 3.08 lbs., prices start at $2,199 US.
[1999/09/21]
Sept. 15, 1999, Business Wire reports that Compaq has announced the
"HomeFree Phoneline USB network adapter" by Diamond Multimedia.
Based on the HomePNA network standard it is priced at $69.95 and
intended for use with Presario portable computers.
[1999/09/21]
The October 1999 issue of "The Computer Paper" published by Canada Computer Paper Inc. has my article "Palm files lawsuits to protect turf." This article can be found at:
http://www.tcp.ca/1999/9910/news/palm/palm.htmlUnfortunately, there was a serious problem with the final copy edit of the article. In the printed version and the current version on the Website the 2nd last paragraph says:
"Even though sales of the daVinci are temporarily blocked, Palm is facing challenges by several new and improved Windows CE devices. Among them are the eDiary by FUGA Corp. (http://www.fuga.com), the Helio by VTech Information (http://www.vtechinfo.com/) and the OSPro by Oregon Scientific (http://www.oregonscientific/)."What I originally wrote was:
"Even if the daVinci is not available for September Palm will face challenges by new competitors and improved Windows CE devices. Among the new competitors are the 'eDiary' by FUGA Corporation, the 'Helio' by VTech Information and the "OSPro" by Oregon Scientific."
Whomever did the copy edit missed the significance of this paragraph completely and wrote a factually wrong version. The significance of the paragraph is that none of the products mentioned were Windows CE. This shows that these are a broad, expanding range of competitors with new software bases, arguably more competitive in this market against Palm than Windows CE was. We are looking at a growing market undergoing an expansion something like the original 8-bit home computer market of the early '80s rather than a consolidating market.
I have requested the following changes to the Web version of the article:
Since I'm on the topic of editing, some of you might be
interested in knowing how much editing is actually done to
published articles. It varies. It can depend on the style of
the writer and how the editors feel that style fits with the
style of the magazine. Sometimes it is simply a matter of copy
length. Some articles are published as written. In general,
I don't have a problem with the final edited versions of my
articles. The above is a very rare case where the edit
contradicts a fact and the fact was an important one. I've
had many changes to my articles which I frankly don't care much
about at all, even if they have to do with content. Take the
title of this article for example. My original article was
"Palm Protects PDA Turf With Court Actions And New Products."
The final title implies that the law suit is the significant point.
My original title implies that what is significant is that Palm
is aggressive maintaining its market in every legitimate way
possible. In the end, the choice is a personal one. I think mine
is better and the copy editor thinks his is better. That's the
level of editing that I would discuss over a beer to pass the time.
I think Shatner's line applies to writers in this industry who
care too much about every phrase they write: "Get a life."
[1999/09/21]
Sept. 13, 1999, Business Wire reports that 3Com has announced
plans to divide into two companies, spinning-off Palm Computing
into an independent publicly traded company. The current plan
is to sell some shares in an IPO, but later to distribute the
balance of the shares to 3Com shareholders.
[1999/09/18]
Sept. 14, 1999, Handspring Inc., the company formed by former leaders
of Palm Computing Ed Colligan, Donna Dubinsky and Jeff Hawkins, has
launched its new handheld computer called the "Visor" which is
based on PalmOS.
http://www.handspring.com/
[1999/09/14]
Sept. 10, 1999, Madeleine Acey writes for TechWeb that upper end
Flash memory (8, 16 and 32 Mbit) shortages have been predicted by
Richard Gordon of the Gartner Group with lead times up to 40 weeks.
According to Gordon "The reason is the demand for digital cell
phones is increasing faster than anyone anticipated." Prices can
be expected to rise.
[1999/09/14]
Sept. 9, 1999, Businesss Wire reports that Motorola has announced
availability of "Hurricane Tracker", a software application that
runs on the PageWriter(R) 2000 and PageWriter 2000X two-way paging
devices and provides updated information of approaching hurricanes,
tropical storms and tropical depressions. Registration for the
application and tria service is currently free.
http://www.motorola.com/smartpagers/pw2000x/hurricane.html
[1999/09/14]
Sept. 9, 1999, PR Newswire reports that Microcell Solutions Inc. has announced changes to its Fido(R) PCS wireless phone plans.
Current subscribers will be upgraded automatically to the
new plans.
[1999/09/14]
Sept. 9, 1999, Canada News Wire reports that The Bay and Zellers
have announced new cellular telephone and paging services for
Bay and Zellers credit card customers under the names Global
Contact Cellular and Global Contact Paging.
[1999/09/14]
Sept. 8, 1999, Business Wire reports that IBM has announced the
availability of Via Voice Millenium which features improved
recognition and editing features. Packages are ViaVoice Standard,
ViaVoice Web and ViaVoice Pro. This new version is optimized for
AMD(R) Athlon(TM) and Intel(R) Pentium(R) III. The minimum
system for ViaVoice Standard Millenium is a Pentium 166MHz MMX(TM)
and 48MB RAM in a Windows 95/98 or NT environment, but with 64MB of
RAM for dictation in Microsoft Word. Estimated prices are $59.95 US
for the Standard version, $79.95 for the Web version and $179 for
the Pro version. Non-English versions will be released in the
coming months.
[1999/09/14]
Sept. 7, 1999, Business Wire reports that 3Com Corp. has announced
its new Megahertz(R) 10 Mbps LAN CF+ Card. This CompactFlash(TM)
card has software that runs on Windows CE capable of turning off the
card for power conservation. 3Com claims that it uses 31 milliamps
at full power and is designed to conserve battery power in the
computer. Available worldwide in October, the list price is $99
US.
http://www.3Com.com/mobile/
[1999/09/11]
Sept. 7, 1999, Business Wire reports that Magellan Corporation
(a unit of Orbital Sciences Crop.) and Ionics Circuits USA have
announced shipment of the a Magellan designed ORBCOMM OEM
satellite modem. The modem consists of a complete ORBCOMM
(a low earth orbit satellite constellation communications system)
VHF transceiver with an integrated 10 channel GPS receiver.
[Prices were not given in the article.]
http://www.magellangps.com/
[1999/09/11]
Sept. 7, 1999, Canadian Corporate News reports that SnapTrack, Inc.
has announced that it has been awarded a patent, number 5,945,944,
that forms the foundation of "Wireless Assisted GPS" (WAG) systems
which uses US Global Positioning System GPS) to locate wireless phones
and other wireless devices. SnapTrack now holds 10 patents that
that define the WAG system and has 30 patent applications pending.
[1999/09/11]
Sept. 6, 1999, Associated Press reports ("ISI, Mitsubishi To Develop OS") that Integrated Systems Inc. will develop a new OS for handheld computers and will work with Mitsubishi Electric to jointly develop new microcontrollers for portable information device. According to the Nihon Keizai newspaper, Hitachi Ltd., NEC Corp. and Fujitsu Ltd. will also be involved in this.
[I am unsure of any relationship between this article and a
previous article Craig Matsumoto wrote for EE Times on Aug. 30, 1999.
That article said that Integrated Systems had developed a "WebPDA"
reference platform called Vantage IA based on the Mitsubishi M32R
processor and ISI's pSOS real time OS.]
[1999/09/11]
Sept. 2, 1999, Reuters reports that a new Microsoft Word 97
document infecting virus called W97M/Thus.A ( the "Thursday Virus"),
that was designed to wipe out hard drives on Dec. 13 has been
identified. According to Michael Puldy of IBM's Global Services,
"you can get it even if you don't have Word. All you have
to do is try and launch or read the file."
[1999/09/07]
Sept. 2, 1999, Canadian News Wire reports that Microcell
Telecommunications Inc., I. D. Internet Direct and Look Communications
Inc. have announced that they are creating a new company called
Inukshuk Internet Inc. which will seek a licence for a Multipoint
Communications Systems (MCS) service in the 2500 MHz band to provide
an Internet Protocol (IP) Access Network.
[1999/09/07]
Sept. 1, 1999, Business Wire reports that 3com Corporation claims
that independent lab tests prove that the 3Com(R) Megahertz(R)
56K Global GSM & Cellular Modem PC Card model 3CXM756 are 10-42%
faster than Xircom RealPort REM56G and IBM ThinkPad Mwave built-in
modem due to 3Com's "Exclusive Line Probing (ELP) technology
which proactively identifies and analyzes impairements and
"navigate[s]" data around them.
http://www.3Com.com/mobile/
[1999/09/07]
Sept. 1, 1999, Business Wire reports that 3Com Corporation has
announced that its "Total Control(R)" multiservice access platform
will support the PIAFS Version 2.0 data transfer protocol which
was ratified by the Personal Handyphone System (PHS) Internet
Access Forum, a Japanese standardization committee, giving
64Kbps data network speeds by combining two channels capable
of 32Kbps each. Field trials are expected to being Sept. 9, 1999.
[1999/09/07]
Aug. 31, 1999, Business Wire reports that Lucent Digital Radio Inc.,
partly owned by Lucent Technologies and Pequot Capital Management, Inc.,
announced an agreement to work with Harman Kardon to develop a
prototype receiver to use Lucent's In-Band On Channel (BOC) Digital
Audio Broadcast (DAB) digital radio technology.
http://www.harmankardon.com/
Lucent Digital Radio
http://www.lucent.com/ldr/
[1999/09/07]
Aug. 31, 1999, Associated Press reports that Microsoft shut down
its free Hotmail e-mail system due to a security flaw that allowed
unauthorized access to hotmail users' private mail. According
to the article, the Swedish newspaper Expressen first reported
the problem. By using 3rd party Websites one could access
the account of any user without a password. Microsoft claims
to have fixed the problem.
[1999/09/04]
Aug. 30, 1999, Craig Matsumoto writes for EE Times that Integrated
Systems has developed a "WebPDA" reference platform called Vantage IA
based on the Mitsubishi M32R processor and ISI's pSOS real time
OS. According to ISI, the reference platform is "80% done", leaving
the OEM (developer) the last 20% to complete a product. Components
include a Web browser from Ant and and optimized PersonalJava.
[1999/09/04]
Aug. 30, 1999, Business Wire reports that Compaq Computer Corporation
has announced price reductions on models of Armada laptop computers
including 1500c, 1750, 7400 and 7800.
[1999/09/04]
This recent article in "The Computer Paper" is an attempt to briefly
put PalmOS 3.1.1 in perspective compared to previous and future
versions of PalmOS, and to a lesser extent, some other OSes.
Emphasis on "briefly".
http://www.tcp.ca/1999/9909/handheld/palmos/palmos.html
[1999/09/04]
Aug. 27, 1999, Emily Kaiser writes for Reuters that some analysts
believe that the bankruptcy of ICO Global Communications Ltd.,
a satellite phone company like Iridium, occuring only 2 weeks after
the bankruptcy of Iridium shows that the satellite phone business
may not be viable at all. Teledesic LLC is the only company left
to have not sought bankruptcy protection. The failure is
attributed to the rapid and extensive expansion of current
cell phone technology.
[1999/08/31]
Aug. 27, 1999, Associated Press reports that researchers working for
the National Research Institute For Mathematics and Computer Science
(CWI) in Amsterdam, using a Cray 900-16 supercomputer and 300 personal
computers, and special software claim to have cracked RSA-155
encryption which is commonly used on the internet. The effort took
about 6 weeks. According to Price Waterhouse Coopers, the code is
still safe enough for the applications for which it's used.
[1999/08/31]
Aug. 26, 1999, Business Wire reports that Motorola announced that
it has not received any reports of problems caused by the date
roll-over on Aug. 22, 1999 for GPS receivers built on Motorola
Oncore technology. According to Paul Dowell "All our GPS products
were designed to properly handle the rollover, so we have
essentially been prepared for this GPS event since Motorola
began manufacturing GPS products in the 1980s."
[1999/08/31]
Aug. 26, 1999, Semiconductor Business News reports that Toshiba
America Electronic Components have announced 16-Mbit SRAMs with
access times from 10 - 15 nanoseconds. Built with 0.25-micron
CMOS process, they operate on a 3.3V power supply. Prices
start at $140 US per piece for 15-nanosecond parts, production
quantities will be available in the 4th quarter.
[1999/08/31]
Aug. 26, 1999, Microsoft has discontinued development of Windows NT
for Compaq's Alpha 64-bit RISC processor, leaving 64-bit NT support
only on Intel processors. Compaq will focus its development on
Tru64 Unix and Linux for the Alpha processor.
[1999/08/31]
Aug. 24, 1999, PR Newswire reports that Olympus America Inc. has
announced its C-2500L digital still camera with a 1712 * 1368 pixel
CCD (2.5 megapixels) sensor. The "all-in-one" SLC design uses a
3X 9.2 to 28 mm aspheric glass zoom lens (equal to a 36 - 110mm
lens on a 35mm camera). The 2/3" progressive CCD is a 4 * 5
aspect device. In burst mode the camera is capable of 5 images
in less than 3 seconds in any supported resolution. Both
"SmartMedia" and "CompactFlash" can be used in a special "dual
media" slot. The estimated street price is $1,499 US, available
in Oct. 1999.
[1999/08/28]
Aug. 23, 1999, Associated Press reports that Lucent Technologies,
Nokia and 3Com are forming an industial group to "adopt standards
for wireless computer networks and certify products. . ." called
the "Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance" (WECA). Other
members incldue Aironet, Intersil and Symbol Technologies. As
the article notes, "conspicuously absent for now, however, are
Cisco Systems and Nortel Networks, Lucent's two chief rivals
in data networking and communications technology."
[1999/08/28]
Aug. 20, 1999, Associated Press reports that Microsoft Corp.
has said that it will fix a bug in its Internet Chat software
MSN Messenger that allows others to see a person's e-mail password.
The exploit allows reading and sending email via someone else's
Hotmail account without detection. The discovery of someone
else's password is even possible if the saved password is
deleted and entered manually. Microsoft claims that the exploit
is only possible if someone has physical access to the victim's
computer. In order to read the password, one merely needs to
look at the underlying source code for the page. In the next
version, the information will be encrypted. [This article seems
to imply that this only affects use of Hotmail in particular.]
[1999/08/24]
Aug. 21, 1999, Responsive Database Services reports that on
Aug. 16, 1999 Information Week reported that Sprint Communications
Co. will announce "next month" internet access through Sprint PCS.
A connector will be available to connect a computer type device
to the mobile phone in place of a modem. The price will be
$199.99 US for the connection kit (hardware and software) and
$9.99 US/month for services. [Although this report does not
mention any particular technology, Sprint PCS is known as a
CDMA service, so one can presume this is via CDMA.]
[1999/08/24]
Aug. 17, 1999, Madeleine Acey writes for TechWeb that there is
a "Y2K-type date glitch" which may affect GPS devices on
Aug. 21, 1999. The navigational data is based on a 1,024
week cycle which began in 1980. The there are a number
of possible failures such as wrong location calculation to
errors in billing information. Systems affected will
generally be 2 or more years old.
[1999/08/21]
Aug. 17, 1999, PR Newswire reports that Microsoft has
announced the availability of Microsoft(R) ActiveSync(R)
3.0 which no longer needs "Dial-up Networking" on the main
computer or Remote Access Server on Windows NT wor Windows
2000. Microsoft claims faster installation and easier
use. It works with "all versions of the Palm-size PC and
with versions 2 and 3 of the Handheld PC." The software
is downloadable at Microsoft's support website or available
on CD-ROM with other packaged software.
[1999/08/21]
Aug. 16, 1999, Therese Poletti writes for Reuters that SiRF
Technology Inc. plans to unveil a new semiconductor
architecture for global positioning system (GPS) support.
SiRF claims their system has increased accuracy. According
to the article, "The U.S. [FCC] is mandating that by 2001,
all cellular phones in the U.S. must have GPS functionality,
so that when calls are made to the 911 emergency network,
the location of the caller can be quickly established."
[1999/08/21]
Aug. 16, 1999, Eric Auchard writes for Reuters that according
to ABN AMRO, there is an industry wide shortage of support
chips for LCD displays which may affect availability of laptop
computers. Spokesmen for Dell, Compaq and IBM voiced no
knowledge of reason for concern.
[1999/08/21]
Aug. 12, 1999, Business Wire reports that 3Com Corporation has
announced that on Aug. 10, 1999, they obtained a Preliminary Injunction
stopping "further distribution, sale, import or export" of the
Royal daVinci based on infringement of Copyright in source or
object code form of PalmOS(TM).
[1999/08/21]
Aug. 11, 1999, Business Wire reports that Dragon Systems, Inc.
has announced that Dragon NaturallySpeaking(R) Version 4.0 will
support the AMD Athlon(TM) processor when it ships this month.
[1999/08/21]
Aug. 13, 1999, Paula Rooney writes for Computer Reseller News
that Microsoft is scheduled to release Windows CE version
2.12 on Friday Aug. 20, 1999. New features include DirectDraw,
DirectSound, DirectShow and Windows Media Player.
[1999/08/17]
Aug. 12, 1999, Business Wire reports that Compaq Computer
has announced its latest Prosignia Notebook 150 laptop computer:
Prosignia Notebook 150: 400MHz AMD K6-2 CPU, 12.1" TFT display,
4GBHD, 32MB SDRAM, 1,399 US.
[1999/08/17]
Aug. 12, 1999, Canada News Wire reports that Microcell
Telecommunications Inc. has been informed that its stock has
been added to the TSE 300, TSE 200 and S&P/TSE Canadian Small Cap
indices.
[1999/08/17]
Aug. 11, 1999, Business Wire reports that Lernout & Hauspie Speech
Products, N.V. and National Semiconductor Corporation have announced
that they have agreed to jointly develop voice activated electronic
devices.
[1999/08/17]
Aug. 10, 1999, Canadian Corporate News reports that Sierra Wireless
has announced has announced its AirCombo 350 wireless system
which consists of its AirCard(R) 350 600mW Type II PC Card Wide
Area NIC based on Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD) and its
AirBoost 350 vehicle-mounted power amplifier which increases
output to 3W.
[1999/08/17]
Aug. 14, 1999, Psion has announced its new "netBook" mobile computer at its website "http://www.enterprise.psion.com/". This subnotebook size laptop computer is specifically aimed at enterprise network computing. [I was unable to find information about availability and price because the Website stopped responding while I was researching this product.] The following are some selected specifications:
Size: 235 x 182 x 37 mm
Weight:
System: 1150g including battery pack
AC Adapter: 220g
Processor: Intel SA-1100 StrongARM 190MHz
Internal RAM: 32/64MB Internal DRAM .
CF Card Slot: Type I/II 3.3V/5V - one slot.
CF Card and IBM MicroDrive Support
Hot swappable
PC Card: Type I/II 3.3V/5V - one slot
Serial, modem, ethernet and Flash ATA support
Hot swappable
Display: 7.7" 640x480 color back-lit STN LCD panel
Pointing device: pen and digitiser
Keyboard: 84 key standard layout.
Sound: 12 bit digital sound with speaker and
microphone.
Power:
Battery : LiIon battery pack,
Backup: CR2032
External : 15Vdc, 1.5A AC Adapter
Ports: RS232 serial port to 115kbit/sec
IrDA 1.1, 115kbit/sec and 4Mbit/sec
Docking: Optional docking module provides power and
RS-232 communications
OS: EPOC (Loads on boot, customizable)
Applications: User specified
Java: Java Run Time Environment with JVM and class
libraries
Enterprise Java 1.1.4 implementation runs
Enterprise 1.1 Java applications.
Development: OPL programming interface
PC Software Development Kits (SDK) for Windows
NT/95/98
C++ Native Software Development Kit (SDK)
Java Software Development Kit
Miscellaneous: Y2K compliant
Euro symbol support
http://www.enterprise.psion.com/
[1999/08/14]
Aug. 3, 1999, 3Com has announced a "Special Edition" (SE) version of
the recently announced Palm IIIe which will be sold through selected
universities in the US. The SE will have a clear case and cover.
The announced price is $229 US.
[1999/08/14]
My apologies to those who look forward to my news updates. Due to an
error in my news gathering procedure, I lost some data over this last
week, from about Aug. 3 - 7. Unfortunately, I have no way of
thoroughly recovering the information. If I find out anything
significant that was missed because of this glitch I'll post it later.
[1999/08/10]
Aug. 10, 1999, Business Wire reports that IBM has announced new
mobile application hard drives which establish new records for
density, capacity and speed. The Travelstar 25GS has the highest
drive speed of any portable computer drive (5,400 RPM), and
the total capacity of 25GB is the current highest available.
IBM claims that the 12GB Travelstar 12GN is the world's most
rugged HD (800 G/1ms nonoperating shock, 175 G/2 ms operating
shock.
http://www.ibm.com/harddrive/
[1999/08/10]
Aug. 9, 1999, Business Wire reports that Compaq Computer Corporation
has revamped its Aero 2100 series packages by reducing the prices by
$50.00 US and revamping the included software. All future Aero
2100's will come with 65536 colors, and all previous Aero 2100's
are upgradeable via a downloadable software package. Furthermore,
Compaq is including its "QMenu" and "QUtilities" software to improve
usability. Optionally, a new 9-pin serial cable is now available to
use standard RS-232 connection devices such as modems and GPS units.
[1999/08/10]
Aug. 3, 1999, Business Wire reports that LG Information and
Communications Ltd has announced that its LGC-330W dual-mode
CDMA handset is the first to pass the Cellular Telecommunications
Industry Association (CTIA) certification program requirements.
The certification program is based on IS-98 and ANSI J-STD-008
standards.
[1999/08/07]
Aug. 3, 1999, Business Wire reports that Motorola claims to have
developed the ability to create masks capable of feature sizes below
100 nanometers for use with electron projection and extreme ultra
violet lithography, at sizes capable of making practical chip
sizes. According to Joe Mogab of Motorola, it is believed that this
technology will allow finer than 0.1 micron processes. However,
there are no manufacturing processes currently available to make
use of such masks.
[1999/08/07]
Aug. 2, 1999, Business Wire reports that Gateway has announced its
Solo(R) 9300 thin laptop computer with desk computer equivalent
functionality. The 12.7" * 10.39" * 1.6" computer is priced
starting $2,499 US. Weight w/CD-ROM dreive and 15" screen ("fully
loaded") is 7.76 lbs.
Solo 9300: 14.1" or 15" XGA TFT display, 2X AGP 3D ATI Mobility-P
graphics with 8MB SGRAM, 333MHz, 366MHz or 400MHz Intel(R) Pentium(R)
II CPU, V.90 modem, IEEE 1394 port, USB, EZ Point(R)_ or EZ Pad(R)
pointer,
[1999/08/07]
Aug. 2, 1999, Business Wire reports that Motorola has announced
its Timeport(TM) L7089 tri-band (900/1800/1900Hz) GSM "Digital
World Phone." The features include voice recognition for commands,
voice recording, VibraCall(TM) and IrDA connectivity.
[1999/08/07]
Aug. 2, 1999, Business Wire reports that Motorola has announced its
i500plus(TM) multi-service digital wireless phone. The features
include text paging, two-way radio, WAP microbrowser, two-way e-mail
and wireless modem capabilities. The i500plus handset measures
5.2" * 2.1" * 1.4" and weighs 204 grams including a "slim" battery.
Motorola claims standby time of 75 hrs or talk time up to 240 min.
using a standard NiMH battery. The i500plus also supports call waiting,
automatic redial, call forwarding and speed dial. [While the article
is unclear on the point, the i500plus is probably only for use on iDEN
systems such as Clearnet Mike.]
[1999/08/07]
Aug. 2, 1999, Electronic Buyers' News writes that a current flash memory
shortage may last for about 3 years. The problem affects high density
devices. Atmel is "booked out" for the rest of the year. AMD's 8M-bit
TSOP has risen in price from $3.35 US in early may to $5.87 US by July 23.
According to Alan Niebel of Semico Research, Q3 is sold out and Q4
is approaching sell out.
[1999/08/07]
In case you've been wondering when I'd get around to cleaning up the Webzine again, I finally got around to finishing the reformatting project that's been going on over the last year.
Don't look at the "miscellaneous" page unless you really must. As of today, it's about 383KB, and it'll probably get bigger over the next few months. As is obvious, I haven't had time to update "The Book" since the summer began, so most of this year's material is sitting in the "miscellaneous" page waiting to be sorted. Unfortunately, I don't see a large block of time when I'll be able to work on it again in the near future. I'm hoping to get back to it by the early Winter, 1998. Sorry, but I have other priorities lately. I'll try to keep this Newspage smaller than I have lately though.
Also, some of the other "feature" pages such as the "PCS prices" page
and the "Hot Handhelds" page will not be kept as up to date as I'd
like this Fall. Again, I apologize, but I'm just a bit too busy right
now. My focus will be to keep up the news summaries and hopefully add
some more "original" material when I can.
[1998/08/31]
July 31, 1999, Associate Press reports that some newer computers, notably by Hewlett-Packard and Compaq which allow automatic upgrading through the Internet contain security flaws. On the Compaq, according to Richard Smith of Pharlap Software, a Web page can direct it to reveal e-mail address lists, release financial records or other private information.
The article also mentions similar security problems with older
versions of Microsoft Office (early Office 97 and perhaps versions
prior to that version). The article points out that Microsoft
Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents may contain Trojan horse viri.
[The article emphasizes the Microsoft Office flaw, but it is
unclear whether this is a security flaw that has been mentioned
before.]
[1999/08/03]
July 31, 1999, Jan Stafford wrote for Computer Reseller News, July
26, 1999, that a new startup ISP "BarPoint" intends to provide
competitive pricing information on the Web, and to Palm VII users
via wireless connection. The application is being provided by
Pen Computer Solutions, Inc. of Rockville, Md.
[1999/08/03]
July 28, 1999, PR Newswire reports that Apple and Samsung jointly
announced that Apple will invest $100 million US in Samsung to
expand Samsung's TFT-LCD display production capacity.
[1999/08/03]
July 27, 1999, Canada News Wire reports that according to the
Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA), 360,000
Canadians were added to the total wireless phone subscriber
base bringing total subscriptions up to 6 million in 1999 Q2.
That is an increase of 1.4 million subscribers within the last
year or 3,700 per day.
[1999/07/31]
July 27, 1999, Business Wire reports that Compaq Computer
Corporation has added two new 400MHz Intel Celeron(TM) CPUs.
Featuring 121" TFT or STN displays, 128K internal cache, 4GB
SMART HD, 32MB RAM expandable to 160MB, a 24X CD-ROM drive,
56K V.90 integrated modem, Compaq PremierSound, Windows
OSes, prices start at $1,699 US.
[1999/07/31]
July 26, 1999, Business Wire reports that Compaq has introduced
three new Armada laptop computers which use common docking
systems and options:
Armada M300 Series Intel Pentium(R) II or Intel Celeron(TM) 333 MHz
processors, 11.3" TFT display, 64MB SDRAM, 6.4 GB SMART II HD,
95% sized keyboard, ATI LT Pro graphics w/4MB SGRAM, integrated
MiniPCI 56K V.90 modem, Winodws OS, magnesium alloy case, (claimed
weight 3 lbs.), prices start at $1,999 US.
Armada M700 Series, 366MHz or 400MHz Intel Pentium II CPU, 14.1"
TFT display, 256KB integrated L2 cache, 64MB SDRAM expandable to
288MB, ATI Mobility Pro AGP 2X graphics w/8MB SDRAM, up to 10GB
SMART II HD, Mini PCI 56K V.90 modem, magnesium alloy case w/carbon
fibre base, (claimed weight 4.5 lbs.), prices start at $3,299 US.
Armada E700 Series, 400MHz Intel Pentium II, 14.1" TFT display,
256KB integrated L2 cache, ATI Mobility Pro AGP 2X graphics w/8MB
SDRAM, 14GB SMART II HD, 128MB SDRAM expandable to 320 MB,
integrated Mini PCI 56ZK V.90 3Com modem, integrated AC adapter,
prices start at $4,799 US.
Also announced were the new ArmadaStation EM docking station for
full desk computer functionality and the Armada Port Replicator EM
for quick cable interfacing.
[1999/07/31]
July 26, 1999, Canada News Wire reports that Mobility Personacom Canada Ltd. has announced unaudited 1999 Q2 results:
Gross Activation 263,000 Net Activations 132,000 Total Subscribers at End of Quarter 3,230,000 Cellular and PCS market share at June 30, 1999 54% Pagers active EoQ 864,000
"The Shareholders of Mobility Canada are TELUS Mobility,
SaskTel Mobility, MTS Mobility, Thunder Bay Mobility, Bell
Mobility, QuebecTel Mobilite, NBTel Mobility, IslandTel
Mobility, MTT Mobility and NewTel Mobility.
[1999/07/31]
July 23, 1999, Canada News Wire reports that IVI Checkmate Corp.,
ScotiaBank and Rogers Cantel claim that Mobitex is being
used as the basis for the first debit/credit point-of-purchase
transaction system in a public stadium, using IVI Checkmate
Elite 780 mobile handheld wireless transaction terminals at
Winnipeg Stadium concession stands for the Pan Am Games in
Winnipeg, Manitoba.
[1999/07/31]
July, 23, 1999, Canada News Wire reports that Rogers Cantel has
announced that Mobitex service is available in Winnipeg, in time
for the 1999 Pan Am Games. Mobitex is a bi-directional packet-
switching system.
[1999/07/27]
July 22, 1999, Canada News Wire reports that Unique Broadband
Systems, Inc. has delivered "Coded Orthogonal Frequency Division
Multiplexing (COFDM) products to a number of Canadian broadcasters.
The systems are used for "fixed wireless high speed internet
access and wireless local loop" usage. The company is also
developing a Local Multi-point Distribution System (LMDS)
transmitter. [I'm not certain of the significance of this
information, so I'm including it on a benefit of the doubt basis.]
Unique Broadband Systems
http://www.uniquesys.com/
[1999/07/27]
July 19, 1999, Business Wire reports that Compaq Computer Corp.
has announced a hot swappable CompactFlash card format V.90 and
56Kflex 56Kbps modem weighing 8 g. for the Aero 2100 Color
Palm-size PC. [Price was not in the announcement.]
[1999/07/24]
July 21, 1999, Apple Canada announced its new iBook laptop style computer
featuring battery life of up to six hours, Apple's new AirPort wireless
Internet networking for cable-free Internet access (optional), available
in two colors (Blueberry and Tangerine).
iBook, 12.1-inch 800 * 600 SVGA TFT display, 300MHz PowerPC G3 CPU w/512KB
backside L2 cache, 32MB SDRAM, expandable to 160MB, ATI RAGE Mobility graphic
controller with 4MB SDRAM video memory and 2X AGP, built-in 56K modem and
10/100BASE-T Ethernet networking, 3.2GB IDE HD, 24X CD-ROM drive, two
built-in antennas, USB port, an internal slot for Apple's AirPort wireless
networking card, stereo headphone jack, 6 hr. LiIon battery, MacOS 8.6,
available in September at $2, 399 Cdn.
[1999/07/24]
July 21, 1999, Canada News Wire reports that IBM Canada Ltd. has
announced price reductions on selected ThinkPad 390E, 570 and 770Z
models. Examples:
ThinkPad 770Z (9549-82U/82F), 366MHz Intel Mobile Pentium II CPU,
14.1GB HD, 128/320 MB RAM, is now $6,699 Cdn.
ThinkPad 390E (2626-D0U/D0F), 300MHz Intel Mobile Pentium II CPU,
4.3GB HD, $3,799 Cdn.
[1999/07/24]
July 19, 1999, 3Com Canada Inc. introduced its new low cost Palm IIIe(tm)
handheld computer featuring a list price of $329 Cdn. Other features
include the new high clarity screen used in the Palm IIIx, 2MB RAM,
Palm OS(TM) 3.1, infrared beaming. The Palm III is continued at
at $379 Cdn., the Palm IIIx at $549 Cdn., and the Palm V at $679 Cdn.
[According to newsgroup discussions, the Palm IIIe does not have
an upgradeable OS, nor does it have the Palm IIIx buss for hardware
upgrades. I haven't had a chance to check the Palm website to confirm
this yet.]
[1999/07/24]
July 17, 1999, Reuters reports that an explosion and fire in a Toronto service centre of Bell Canada disrupted phone services for part of the day, affecting phone service to some degree across Canada. [Not mentioned in this report is that the Toronto Stock Exchange was affected for a number of hours. The implication of this event is that while access to remote data via the phone system is generally very reliable, there are still advantages to carrying the information with you.]
Further information about the fire from Canada News Wire
on July 16, 1999: Bell Canada announced that the disruption
began at about 10:00 AM affecting an area bounded by Bathurst
St., Queen St., Bay St. and College St., with some disruption
nationally of certain data services such as debit and credit
cards and Internet services. Most of the service was restored
by 3:15 PM. The damage was probably the result of a short
circuit during servicing of an electrical panel (one person
was hospitalized). [An announcement by Rogers Cantel on
July 16, 1999 through Canada News Wire identifies the site
as "Toronto's Simcoe Street switching station."]
[1999/07/20]
July 16, 1999, Yoshiko Hara writes for EE Times that Sharp has
licensed Symbian's EPOC OS for use in upcoming mobile information
products. A Sharp spokesman described EPOC as a "de facto
standard," however, current plans only extend to marketing
EPOC based products in Europe.
[1999/07/20]
July 15, 1999, Business Wire reports that National Semiconductor
has announced it's Geode(TM) SC1400 "PC - or Information - Appliance
- On - A - Chip". Intended for set - top - box use, the systems can
contain all the main hardware needed for web browsing, including
Nat Semi's MediaGX instruction set and MPEG-2 video.
National Semiconductor Information Appliances http://www.national.com/ia/
[1999/07/20]
July 15, 1999, Business Wire reports that Motorola Systems
Solutions Group has announced that it has been chosen by the
US Army Aviation and Missle Commnad to build 64 Tactical
Operations Centers (TOCs) over the next 5 years at a cost
of about $44.8 million US.
[1999/07/20]
July 15, 1999, Maggie Fox writes for Reuters that a research
team at UCLA and Hewlett-Packard have succeeded in creating
molecule scale computer circuits based on "rotaxane" crystals.
The team head by James Heath of UCLA and Phil Kuekes of HP
have succeeded in producing simple logic gates. Instead of
etching traces, the gates are created by applying electrical
chargers directly to the crystal. The next step is to create
wiring fine enough to work with the crystal circuitry. Carbon
"nanotubes" (aka "Bucky tubes") are expected to be used for
the task.
[1999/07/20]
July 14, 1999, Canada News Wire reports that Microcell
Telecommunications Inc. has announced its 1999 Q2 subscriber
results. As of June 30, 1999, the subscriber base was
404,577 compared with 149,846 at June 30, 1998. 42,881
added subscriptions were Fidomatic. Microcell claims a
post-guarantee churn rate of 2.1%.
[1999/07/20]
July 13, 1999, Business Wire reports that Symbol Technologies
Inc. has announced that the US Department of Defense has awarded
Symbol a contract up to $248 million US over 5 years to supply
wireles mobile computing and scanning systems.
[1999/07/20]
July 13, 1999, Canada News Wire reports that Microcell
Telecommunications Inc. and Telemetrix Inc. have announced an
the signing of a letter of intent to conclude a "Network Affiliate
Agreement" which will eventually bring GSM service to Manitoba
and Saskatchewan.
[1999/07/12]
July 13, 1999, Peter Clarke writes for EE Times that the Universal
Wireless Communications Consortium (UWCC) has endorsed a letter the
Clinton administration sent to the European Commission repeating
warnings to remain technologically neutral regarding 3rd generation
wireless systems. The recent letter, the second of its general
type was signed by U. S. Secretary of Commerce William M. Daley
and U. S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky.
[1999/07/12]
July 12, 1999, Business Wire reports that AMD has announced that
Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc (TAIS) Computer Systems
Division (CSD) is using 366MHz AMD-D6(R)-2-P CPUs with 3DNow!(TM)
in new Satellite 2060CDS and 2065CDS laptop computers.
[1999/07/12]
July 12, 1999, Business Wire reports that Hewlett-Packard Company
has announced price reductions on HP OmniBook 900 and some
configurations of it s HP OmniBook 4150 laptop computers.
HP OmniBook 900, 366MHz CPU, 6GB HD, 32MB RAM, 12.1" SVGA
display, $2,349 US.
HP OmniBook 4150, 366MHz Intel Pentium II, 10GB HD, 128MB RAM,
4X DVD-ROM, 14.1" XGA display, $3,899 US.
HP OmniBook 4150, 300MHz Intel Pentium II, 6.4GB HD, 64MB RAM, 24X
CD-ROM, 14.1" XGA display, $2,699 US.
[1999/07/12]
Comdex Canada for 1999 featured 3Com and in particular the Palm division. I'm not sure how many Palm V devices were given away, but it was one of the most expensive "give away's" I've personally seen at a trade show. There was an announcement of stock advisor and brokerage services coming from Charles Schwab Canada Co. through Bell Mobility to Qualcomm pdQ handsets. This service is currently available via Digital PCS handsets, but will be better used with the Palm OS based pdQ handsets.
I was partly pleased to see Palm supplying Comdex information to Palm users at the show. This is an idea I've suggested many times before to handheld computer sellers. Unfortunately, the method chosen was not the best. Palm decided to use AvantGo 1.1e and transfer converted HTML pages. The data was the following:
Channel Title Size Pages Images Comdex Canada 99 18KB 1 27 Comdex Canada-Conferences- 4KB 16 2 Comdex Canada 99-Keynotes 5KB 2 5 Comdex Canada 99-Exhibitors 6KB 2 1
The first problem was that most of the "16 pages" in the "Conferences" channel didn't load. They were replaced by "error" pages, leaving me with little useful information. Furthermore, I saw that some of the Palm users attending the conference were reluctant about using this service because it required "synchronizing" with Palm's supplied desk computer system. The two issues that I heard mentioned were first, security, which is a problem because all files on the Palm were copied to the supplied desk computer, which I was told was networked, and even if not, should not be trusted without security contracts and checks, and second, side effects regarding synchronization. I heard a couple of Palm users who decided not to use the service because they were afraid that synchronizing with the supplied desk computer might adversely affect subsequent synchronization with their own computers later.
It would have been better if special data packages had been created to beam to Palm units. The representative suggested that this might not be a good idea because not all Palms have infrared. I replied that I expected that most Palm units in current use probably had infrared due to upgrades and attrition of older units. In retrospect, I would also add that it is probably also true because of stronger sales of later models. Moreover, I would say that people without infrared had small units who would probably not want to be overloaded with this free data anyway.
Since I was pre-registered for Comdex I didn't see if there was any use of Palm Infrared business card data transfers to assist in the registration process.
Quoting from Palm's July 14, 1999 press release:
"According to Evans Research, . . . , devices using the Palm OS - including the Palm III(tm), Palm IIIx(tm) and Palm V(tm) organizers - accounted for 84 per cent of all [Canadian] handheld shipments in the first three months of 1999. . . ."
"According to data from Evans Research Corporation, 3Com's Palm connected organizers have consistently enjoyed a higher market share in Canada than any other country in the world. . . . Today, more than 350,000 Canadians have Palm connected organizers . . . ."
[1999/07/12]
July 10, 1999, Business Wire reports that Globalstar has announced a
successful launch of of 4 low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites bringing
its constellation up to 28 which is only one launch away from the
target minimum of 32 satellites, capable of providing initial service.
Further launches will bring the final constellation up to 48 satellites
to achieve maximum capacity and redundancy.
http://www.globalstar.com/
Loral Space and Communications
http://www.loral.com/
[1999/07/13]
July 9, 1999, Canada News Wire reports that Clearnet Communications
Inc. has introduced Mike i1000plus and Mike i500plus digital phones
that are "Internet ready". The services also include Mike's Direct
Connect two-way radio, alphanumeric paging, Internet microbrowser,
e-mail, FAX and remote dial-up. Currently, the handsets can be
used with computing equipment such as laptop computers or handheld
computers, replacing a modem connection. Direct use of the handsets
as Web clients will come "later this year." The microbrowser is
by Phone.com. Mike i1000plus is the upgraded version of the i1000
handset. The i1000 will now cost $199 Cdn. while the Mike i1000plus
will cost $229 Cdn. The i500plus weighs 196 grams [batteries not
mentioned] and has an introductory price of $79 Cdn.
[1999/07/13]
July 9, 1999 Canada News Wire reports that Clearnet has announced its 1999 Q2 subscriber results:
3 Months Ended 3 Months Ended
June 30, 1999 June 30, 1998
Digital (Mike + PCS)
- Net Subscriber Additions 61,573 52,410
- Total Subscribers
end of period 408,503 194,555
- Churn, per month
(after 30 day guarantee) 1.46% 1.19%
(including 30 day guarantee) 1.61% 1.62%
Mike
- Net Subscribers Additions 22,255 16,656
- Total Subscribers
end of period 152,830 74,093
- Churn, per month
(after 30 day guarantee) 1.49% 1.09%
PCS
- Net Subscriber Additions 39,318 35,754
- Total Subscribers
end of period 255,673 120,462
- Churn, per month
(after 30 day guarantee) 1.44% 1.25%
Analogue SMR
- Net Subscriber Additions (3,420) (3,876)
- Total Subscribers
end of period 32,999
The above are unaudited results. Final numbers will be released
August 10, 1999. Note that the Clearnet "pre-paid" service was
not available in the early part of the quarter.
[1999/07/13]
July 8, 1999, Scott Tiazkun writes for Computer Reseller News that
3Com is not currently supporting Wireless Application Protocol (WAP)
Wireless Markup Language browser standard. The Palm VII is based
on HTML. Comments be David Weilmuenster of 3Com did not rule out
future support for a WAP browser.
[1999/07/13]
July 6, 1999, Business Wire reports that Compaq has announced a
new version of its Armada 1500c with 12.1" STN display.
Armada 1500c, 366 MHz Intel(R) Celeron(TM) CPU, 128KB cache,
32MB RAM (expandable to 160MB), 4GB SMART HD, 12.1" STN display,
24X CD-ROM, 56Kbps V.90 integrated modem, Compaq PremierSound
audio, Windows 95, 1 yr. warranty, $1,599 US.
http://www.compaq.com/products/portable/arm1500C/
[1999/07/10]
July 6, 1999, Associated Press reports that Hitachi, Intel, Mitsubishi
Electric and Sharp have announced an agreement to use a new chip
package specification which contains Flash and SRAM in a stacked
single package. Originally proposed by Mitsubishi and Sharp, the
new design will also be supported by Seiko Epson, Sanyo Electric,
Mitsui High-tec, Amkor Technology and Power Technology.
[1999/07/10]
July 6, 1999, Canada News Wire reports that Rogers Cantel Mobile
Communications Inc. have announced preliminary 2nd quarter results
ending June 30, 1999. Rogers Cantel added 109,500 net cellular
subscribers and a 1.54% churn rate. Rogers Cantel also claims
to have added 10,800 net paging and data subscribers. The
result is a total of 2,180,200 wireless subscribers (cellular
and paging) which is an increase of 120,300 since March 31, 1999.
At the end of the quarter, approximately 690,000 subscribers
were on Digital PCS (36% of Rogers Cantel's cellular subscribers)
and 181,400 subscribers were on "Pay as you go" prepaid service.
[1999/07/10]
June 30, 1999, Business Wire report that Motorola has announced
its new M12 Oncore GPS receiver. Measuring 60 * 40 * 10 mm, it
is claimed to be the smallest that Motorola has produced. The
base technology is RFIC1504 (radio-frequency integrated circuit)
and MoCORE based MMC2003 microcontroller. Among other features,
Motorola claims one of the fastest "time to first fix" (TTFF) in
the industry.
http://www.oncore.motorola.com/
[1999/07/10]
Briefly, I discussed memory sizes often from around Aug. 31 to Sept. 6, 1997 but I've made minor changes to my estimates. The following are my current estimates for minimum sizes:
1 - 2 MB general organizer and note taking.
2 - 4 MB above, plus light EMail or light Web.
4 - 8 MB as above, but both EMail and Web in fairly extensive levels.
My laptop's "IN" box holds about 1 year's worth of EMail in about
5MB.
8 - 32 MB Web and News [Notice this odd range of 8 - 32 *minimum*
because Newsgroups can be very large, and newsgroup needs vary greatly.
See below.]
Regarding the wide range of "minimum" sizes for newsgroup support, this
doesn't mean that it's necessary to jump from 4MB up to around 16MB to add
newsgroup support. There *are* advantages all the way up. But as far
as using current handheld computer for Web and News -- they really aren't
practical until your up at least to 8MB. First, current handhelds
devices don't even come with "newsgroup software". It will have to be
added. Also, as mentioned above, the average size of a message database
for each newsgroup varies widely, and there's no way to generalize
realistically what in individual's needs will be for newsgroup coverage,
or the need for offline storage of messages in a newsgroup.
[1999/07/08]
For example, it should be possible to follow a couple of slower
newsgroups with as little as 8MB for software and data storage, even
carrying messages for up to a week on the handheld device. I did this
successfully on an Amiga desk computer with 2 floppy drives (3MB total
between them) and 5MB RAM giving a total resource of about 8MB. But if
you want to follow larger newsgroups, and a wider variety, then you will
probably want to either read them "online" (probably through a wireless
connection, or carry 16 MB or more of data, or a combination of both.
Text compression would help (a 50% compression for text is a reasonable
estimate), but you'll probably still want to carry enough to need more
than 8MB.
[1999/07/10]
The Web is similar. As a heavy desk computer Web user I can and often do replace all the data in my 5MB of disk cache daily. I would use more but I can't afford the disk space right now. Compression can help, but it begs the question of re-usability. When I browse the Web, I sometimes store off Web pages for later "offline" reading. Sometimes if I capture a compressed webpage, I might want to see a graphic in detail later or print it out. If so, I would have to re-load the page from the internet onto my desk computer, which would be a waste of time. Keep in mind that the added compression of programs such as AvantGo and ProxiWeb *must* lose detail because the original GIF and JPEG files are already compressed.
For HTML rendering, both online and offline, speed is also an issue.
The performance levels I got with my 4MB NEC MP-400 with either WinCE 1.0
or 2.0 were only good enough for "emergency" Web browsing use. Speed
of rendering for "offline" use was livable for fairly simple Web
pages. The 75MHz Compaq C-Series is a bit better, but still in the
same general ball park. On the other hand, the rendering of an AvantGo
page on my Palm IIIx with tables turned off is very quick.
[1999/07/08]
[1997/08/31] last revised [1999/07/10]
I really can't think of any good reason to give the computer
industry a "special break" for Y2K liabilities. This was an
entirely forseeable problem. We discussed it on BIX years
ago. Anybody in high school back in the 80's could tell you
how many years away was 2000AD. Any experienced programmer
had a good idea of how hard it would be to change the pages
of programming. Any changes to laws regarding liability
or legal procedures should be generalized to fit all cases.
And this short a comment is about all the idea is worth.
[1999/07/10]
July 2, 1999, Mitch Wagner writes for InternetWeek that @Motion
says it is planning to make available server technology designed
to allow mobile phone users to use the Internet by either
voice or phone. Input will be either keyboard or voice
recognition and output will be text or voice synthesis.
[1999/07/06]
July 2, 1999, TechWeb reports that a virus is attacking Asian
computer users called the "July Killer." It attacks throughout
July and erases Microsoft Word files from either Japanese or
Chinese versions and erases files from the C: drive.
[1999/07/06]
July 1, 1999, Hewlett-Packard Company has announced that the
price of the HP Jornada 420 palm-size PC has been reduced from
$519 US to $449 US. Purchases before Aug. 31 will also
qualify for an extra $160 US promotional bundle. According
to HP the Jornada 420 is 5.1" * 3.2" * 0.9" and weighs 8.81 oz.
[The article does not state whether the weight includes
batteries.]
[1999/07/06]
June 29, 1999, Data Communications reprinted an article by Andrew
Dornan published Jun 23, 1999, that MCI Worldcom plans to build a
US wide wireless network based on spread spectrum technology to be
called Ricochet2 with Metricom. The network will have two way
speeds up to 128 Kbits/s and will cover 12 cities by "next year"
and 46 cities by 2001. According to Dornan, the technology has a
range of less than 1/2 mile per base station, so "Ricochet2 will
require hundreds of base-stations in each city" but Metricom says
these base stations are much cheaper than conventional cell
base-stations.
[1999/07/03]
June 28, 1999, Business Wire reports that Hewlett-Packard
Company has announced HP Mobile ProtectTools Smart Card Kit
2.0 which features BIOS lock and a Website with security
information. The kit has a street price of $99 US.
HP Mobile ProtectTool Website http://www.hp.com/omnibook/security/
[1999/07/03]
June 28, 1999, Business Wire reports that AMD has announced
availability of its K6(TM)-2E embedded processor which features
3DNow!(TM) technology and a 100MHz frontside buss for Socket 7
and Super7 compatible chipsets. It is available in a lower
power version which uses a 1.9V core voltage w/clock speeds of
266MHz and 233MHz, an extended temperature rating of 85 degrees
C. and a maximum power dissipation of less than 10 Watts, and
a "standard" version which uses a 2.2V core voltage and clock
speeds of 300MHz, 266MHz and 233MHz. Both are built using
0.25-micron five-layer-metal process. The most expensive version
low power 266-MHz AMD-K6-2E/266AMZ is priced at $69.00 US each in
1,000-unit quantities. The least expensive 233MHz standard
voltage is $55 US each in 1,000 units.
[1999/07/03]
June 28, 1999, Canadian Corp. News reports that Luxell Technologies Inc. has announced a new 1/4 VGA (320 * 240) resolution electroluminescent display using technology from avionics, defense and space applications, the Model LX-I-320x240.80 is now available for commercial applications. The key technology is patented optical - interference known as "Black Layer" which reduces reflection and improves contrast and clarity of characters and graphics in "any light condition."
Some Specifications:
Usable off axis to 160 degrees, temp range 0 - +55 degrees C standard
with -40 to +70 degrees C available, 4" * 3" area, 35 fL and 45 fL
brightness available, standard colour is amber (585 nanometers) over
a black background, resolution is 80 lines per inch.
[1999/07/03]
June 21, 1999, Associated Press reports that Iridium has announced
that its prices will be reduced in order to develop its market.
Starting July 1, "International" calls will be about $3.00 US per
minute (down from $7.00 US per minute) but calls within Europe or
the US and Canada will cost less than $2.50 per minute. Motorola
and Kyocera Corp. will begin selling satellite phones for under
$1,000 US (down from over $3,000 US) per unit.
[1999/06/28]
June 15, 1999, Qualcomm posted a press release on its Website
about the use of Qualcomm's new PalmOS based "pdQ" CDMA handset,
which is being used by 724 Solutions, Inc., to develop services
for The Bank of Montreal and Bell Mobility. The press release
is not entirely clear on the point, but it seems to imply that
the "pdQ" is now to be considered an available product. [I can
only suggest checking with your local CDMA phone service about
local availability.]
http://www.qualcomm.com/phones/
[1999/06/28]
June 25, 1999, Tom Spring writes for CNN (website) that Microsoft
has announced that a wireless communications kit will be available
through a yet to be named cellular phone company using a Socket
Communications connecting device.
[1999/06/28]
June 22, 1999, Reuters reports that America Online (AOL) is working
with 3Com's Palm Computing in a number of ways. First, AOL will
provide e-mail access through Palm handheld computers. AOL
software will be bundled with Palm devices and accessories. This
will allow AOL users to send and receive e-mail through AOL
accounts to and from Palm devices. AOL will offer a Palm III
and PalmModem bundle for its members. AOL and Palm are looking
into an AOL-branded version of Palm VII, including Sun's
Java II, for US and international markets. Also they are planning
to develop a more complete set of AOL browser and integration
software.
[1999/06/26]
June 22, 1999, Business Wire reports that IBM has introduced two
new laptop computers series:
ThinkPad 600E, 400MHz Mobile Intel(R) Pentium(R) II, $2,799 -
$4,199 US.
ThinkPad 390E model BOU, 366MHz Mobile Intel Celeron(TM) CPU
starting at $1,899 US.
June 22, 1999, Edward J. Correia wrote for June 18, 1999 TechWeb that
3Com was to announce a 56Kbps V.90 GSM cellular PC Card modem card
with XJack connector on June 15, 1999.
http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB19990618S0001
[1999/06/26]
June 21, 1999, Compaq Computer Corporation announced the following
Prosignia 165 Series and 150 Series laptop computers.
Prosignia 165 Series, 400MHz Intel Mobile Pentium II starting at
$2,452 US.
Prosignia 150 Series, 400MHz AMD K6-2, starting at $2,150 US.
[1999/06/26]
June 21, 1999, Business Wire reports that Compaq Computer
Corporation announced price reductions on various Armada laptop
computers in the 1700, 7400 and 7800 Series lines.
Armada 1750 Series, 300MHz Mobile Pentium II, 13.3" Colour TFT
screen, Windows 95, $2,149 US.
Armada 7400 Series, 266MHz Mobile Pentium II, 13.3" Colour TFT
screen, Windows 95, $2,199 US.
Armada 7800 Series, 300MHz Mobile Pentium II, 14.1" Colour TFT
screen, Windows 95, $3,399 US.
[1999/06/26]
June 19, 1999, Michele Pepe writes in the June 14, 1999 issue
of Computer Reseller News that Famous Footware of New York is
using the new SPT 1700 by Symbol Technologies Inc. The
SPT 1700 is a ruggedized Wireless LAN radio linked version of
the Palm III.
[1999/06/22]
June 18, 1999, Business Wire reports that Motorola has
announced that it is offering its M-CORE architecture to
OEM customers and ASIC manufacturers royalty-free within
the Japanese domestic market.
[1999/06/22]
June 18, 1999, Semiconductor Business News reports that Motorola has announced that its M-CORE embedded RISC has been selected by Korea's Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) as the basis for its next generation PDA development project called the Intelligent Personal Client (IPC).
June 18, 1999, Madeleine Acey writes for TechWeb that Dell U.K.
has acknowledged that its downloadable Microsoft Excel format
price list, from around March 23, 1999 was infected with the
097M/Tristate macro virus which "removes virus protection from
Word, Powerpoint and Excel . . ."
[1999/06/22]
June 16, 1999, Business Wire reports that IBM has introduced
its first North American mini-notebook portable computer,
the ThinkPad 240.
ThinkPad 240: 10.4" SVGA display, 300MHz Mobile Intel(R)
Celeron(TM) CPU, 64MB SDRAM (expandable up to 192MB), 6.4GB HD,
2MB VRAM, MPEG-1 support, UltraCarbon(TM) case, integrated
56K V.90 modem, 2.9 lbs., $1,999 US.
[1999/06/22]
June 16, 1999, PR Newswire reports that Motorola has demonstrated
a very small footprint version of Java called KVM on a PageWriter(TM)
2000x, in which it replaced the normal scripting language.
[1999/06/22]
June 16, 1999, Business Wire reports that Compaq Computer
Corporation now offers a Wireless LAN based on the 802.11
standard for under $200.00 US per node. With speeds of
up to 2 Megabit/sec. and range of up to 300 feet Compaq
claims that this new spread spectrum technology is easy to
install.
[1999/06/22]
June 16, 1999, Reuters reports that growth of cellular telephones
will continue to grow as they have in 1998 reaching 420 - 430
million users by the end of this year and 1 billion users by
2004. The company also projects telecommunications equipment
to grow from $218 billion in 1997 to $328 billion in 2002.
Motorola claims that its share in the telecommunications equipment
industry is about 1/3.
[1999/06/22]
June 15, 1999, Sun has announced that the PalmOS devices would be
a reference platform forthe Java(TM) 2 Platform, Micro Edition,
intended for consumer products. A reference port is targetted
for availability later this year. The companies also agreed to
make Sun's K Virtual Machine (KVM), a key component of the Java
2 Platform, Micro Edition, available on the Palm OS software.
http://java.sun.com/pr/1999/06/pr990615-17.html
http://www.sunlabs.com/research/spotless/
[1999/06/22]
On about June 15, 1999, Psion announced the Series 5mx.
Series 5mx: 170 x 90 x 23mm, 354g with batteries, 640 x 240 pixels
16 Gray-scale backlit screen, 36Mhz ARM710T RISC CPU, RS232 at
115k baud, IrDA, 16Mb RAM.
Psion Series 5mx
http://www.series5mx.com/
[1999/06/19]
June 15, 1999, Business Wire reports that AMD has introduced its
400MHz Mobile AMD K6(R)-2-P CPU with 3DNow!(TM) technology.
Operating with a 2.2 V. core voltage it has an "extended case
temperature rating" of 80 degrees C and dissipates less than
12 W. running typical applications. Based on AMD's 0.25-micron
five-layer-metal processs, the CPU is immediately available in a
Socket 7 and Super7(TM) compatible 321-pin ceramic pin grid array
(CPGA) package at $187 US in 1,000 unit qunatities.
[1999/06/19]
June 15, 1999, Business Wire reports that Compaq has announced
its new Presario 1600 series laptop computers powered by 400MHz
AMD K6(R)-2-P CPUs, priced as low as $1,999 US.
[1999/06/19]
June 15, 1999, Paula Rooney writes for Computer Reseller News that
Microsoft has launched MSN Mobile which will allow consumers
to subscribe to wireless information on interactive pagers
and cellular phones including news, sports, weather, stock quotes,
horoscopes and personal alerts. [No information about pricing
was included in the article.]
[1999/06/19]
June 15, 1999, Stephan Ohr writes for EE Times that there is a
division between two camps trying to develop standards for home
wireless data/voice networks. Lucent and Ericsson are backing
Bluetooth combined with IEEE 802.11 against Shared Wireless Access
Protocol (SWAP) Version 1.0 backed by the HomeRF Consortium
including Intel, Compaq, HP and Motorola.
[1999/06/19]
June 14, 1999, Clearnet Communications Inc. announced the
availability of the new dual mode Nokia 6188 at $149.99 Cdn.
The handset is 129mm * 47mm * 20mm and weighs 149 g.
Features include almost 3 hrs. talk time or up to 4.5 days
of standby time (in digital areas), 200 phonebook entries,
logging of last 10 calls, alarm clock, calendar with
reminders, calculator, games, vibration alert and personal
ring tones.
[1999/06/19]
June 14, 1999, PR Newswire reports that Geoworks Corporation has
announced that it plans to launch a series of wireless information
services in the US and UK over the next several quarters aimed
at general consumers. The services will be free, based on
advertising and will be available to users of PCS phones with
wireless text capabilities and alphanumeric pagers. Geoworks
quotes the Strategis Group who claim that there are 67 million
people in the US currently using wireless devices and 28 million
of them have text-capable devices.
[1999/06/19]
June 11, 12 & 14, 1999, Associated Press reports that the Computer Emergency Response Team at Carnegie Mellon University (CERT) has reported that the "Worm.Explorer.Zip" trojan is spreading worse that expected, possibly because it acts as a "worm" propogating across servers. The virus is spread as an EMail attachment. It has only been known to attack Windows 9x and NT systems and is known to delete files. The virus arrives with a message in the form "Hi (Recipient Nam)! I received your e-mail and I shall send you a reply ASAP. Till then take a look at the attached zipped docs." The deleted files are Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Word documents.
[The first reports of the "Worm.Explorer.Zip" virus occurred
around June 12, 1999, which was my last update of this
page. I decided to wait for a day to gather more information.
At that point, there was a flood of information in the normal
news channels, and I felt I had nothing to say which was not
"common knowledge." I still feel that way, so instead, I'll
refer you to the CERT Website.]
http://www.cert.org/
[1999/06/15]
June 15, 1999, Toronto, at 9:00AM, Westaim Advanced Display Technologies Inc. (WADT), a subsidiary of The Westaim Corporation, demonstrated a 5" diagonal 320 * 240 flat panel display with "8-bit shaded colour" (24-bit colour) built using WADT's proprietary "Solid State Display" technology which is based on a potentially very low cost "thick film dielectric" process. WADT is currently trying to "partner up" with companies to produce industrial and consumer versions. According to Westaim's representatives, the demonstration sample was only a couple of days old and was chosen for its brightness.
[This product will probably not have common mobile application
because its power levels are close to plasma display levels, but
it has potential for automotive and aeronautic applications. The
technology should be inherently more stable in wide temperature
application.]
[1999/06/15]
June 11, 1999, Business Wire reports that Tegic Communications
has announced that NEC Corporation has licensed Tegic's T9(TM)
text entry system for use in wireless handsets. NEC will
introduce its new DB2100 GSM handset in China on June 11, 1999
which will incorporate a Chinese version of T9.
[1999/06/15]
June 9, 1999, Business Wire reports that Motorola has announced
that its PageWriter(TM) 2000X two-way pager comes with TrueSync(R)
Software for connecting appointments, contact, task and note data
with various desktop Personal Information Management (PIM)
applications. The PageWriter 2000X features 4.5MB "total memory"
and Motorola's FLEX(TM) Operating System 2.0. According to
the article, this will be replaced later this year with FLEX OS
3.0 with even more capabilities. The PageWriter 2000X is
immediately available at $449 US list, including holster, battery
docking station and the TrueSync software.
http://www.motorola.com/smartpagers/
[1999/06/15]
June 9, 1999, PR Newswire reports that AG Communications Systems,
(AGCS) a subsidiary of Lucent Technologies announced that Clearnet
Communications Inc. is using AGCS' INgage(R) Wireless Prepaid
Service (WPS) system to serve prepaid users.
[1999/06/15]
On about June 1, 1999, 3Com made its PalmOS 3.1.1 upgrade available on its Website. This is a minor patch which impliments the following changes:
The system update includes three changes (per 3Com):
"1. Reduces the "crosstalk" effect seen whenever a grid is shown (for example, with the Datebook application in week/month view). This change is accomplished by lowering the display refresh frequency on Palm IIIx organizers (Palm V organizers are not affected).
2. Prevents the "clicking" problem, which can occur whenever an alarm dialog is displayed and the Up button is pressed. In these situations, the Up button is now disabled.
3. Corrects two internal grayscale palette values."
[I apologize for the approximate date, but I did not receive
any official notification of its release. It was mentioned in
Internet "newsgroup" postings.]
[1999/06/15]
June 8, 1999, PR Newswire reports that Microsoft has demonstrated
a version of SQL Server for Windows CE. Microsoft claims
that this version "provides all the essential relational
database management system (RDBMS) functionality. . .
[including] a robust data store for data persistence; a
query processor to simplify and optimize complex queries;
and reliable and scalable bidirectional replication
capabilities to allow for automated sychronization of data
between productivity appliances and a centralized SQL
Server-based data store."
[1999/06/12]
June 8, 1999, PR Newswire reports that Bob Muglia of Microsoft
Corp. has announced plans to extend "Open Database Architecture"
to Windows CE based devices. The architecture is based on
"ACtiveX(R) Data Objects" (ADO) and OLE DB.
[1999/06/12]
June 8, 1999, Business Wire reports that Daeyang and Colorado
MicroDisplay have announced that they will demonstrate their
DYHMD-B2000 video headset based on Dynamic Nematic Liquid Crystal
on Silicon(TM) (DNLCOS) technology, at PC Expo in New York,
June 22 - 24.
[1999/06/12]
June 8, 1999, Rich Castagna writes for Windows Magazine that
Hello Direct has developed its Cordless XLT 900MHz telephone
headset which sells for $399.99 US.
http://www.hellodirect.com/
[1999/06/12]
June 7, 1999, Business Week reports that Compaq Computer Corp.
has announced its new Aero(R) 8000 Handheld PC Professional
as the first mobile device to offer built-in Smart Card
technology for secure remote access to corporate data.
Aero 8000: 64-bit 128MHz SH4 RISC CPU, 16MB - 64MB SDRAM, 10"
800 * 600 * 256 colour SVGA screen, 18mm pitch keyboard (95% size
keyboard), TrackPad pointer, up to 13 hrs. battery life, 2.9 lbs,
$949 US w/16MB RAM.
[1999/06/12]
June 7, 1999, PR Newswire reports that Geoworks Corporation has
announced that Seiko Epson Corp. of Japan announced it new
Locatio multi-purpose wireless communication device which
features a built in digital camera and GPS system based on
the Geos software system.
http://www.i-love-epson.co.jp/
[1999/06/12]
June 3, 1999, Business Wire reports that Motorola has demonstrate
a GSM voice phone call connected over Internet Protocol (IP)
technology.
[1999/06/08]
June 2, 1999, PR Newswire reports that AG Communications and
Rogers Cantel Inc. have agreed to jointly market AG Communications'
"Wireless Office Service" (WOS) under the ROMEO(R) brand. Rogers
Cantel will be the "point of contact" for the service. ROMEO WOS
allows a TDMA wireless phone to act as a "cordless extension of [the]
subscribers' desk phone," supporting call transfer, call waiting
and three-way calling and acrues no per-minute air time.
[1999/06/08]
June 1, 1999, Business Wire reports that Hewlett-Packard Company
is offering a limited time special bundle for the Jornada 420
handheld computers It now includes a 16MB SanDisk CompactFlash
and three software packages. The Jornada 420 must be purchased
between June 1 to Aug. 31, 1999. The added software includes
a limited speech-recognition package and a screen driver that
increases the number of colours displayed from 256 to 64K.
[It is unclear whether this offer extends to Canada. The
spokesperson was Elaine Gasser, North American marketing manger
for HP's Asia Pacific Personal Computer Division, but I haven't
heard anything yet from HP Canada.]
[1999/06/05]
June 1, 1999, Associated Press reports that Pacific Bell Wireless
has stopped selling Motorola's GSM version StarTac 7000 digital
PCS handset. The units were apparently having problems such as
dropped calls and "abrupt shutting off." Motorola and PacBell
are fixing the problem with a software upgrade as the units
are brought in by customers upon complaints.
[1999/06/05]
June 1, 1999, Andrew Dornan writes for Data Communications that
according to a report by ARC Group (UK), by the year 2004,
there will be more than 1 billion Internet subscribers, of
which 750 million will use "mobile terminals" and 670 million
will use "landlines." ARC Group expects UMTS to result in
wireless data connection speeds up to 2Mbit/sec. by 2002.
[1999/06/05]
May 28, 1999, Anthony Cataldo writes for EDTN that NEC is
increasing its investment in 128-megabit synchronous and Rambus
DRAM production. It is also moving into 0.18-micron logic
fabrication.
[1999/06/01]
May 27, 1999, PR Newswire reports that Texas Instruments has announced
that Nokia has chosen to use TI DSP based "Open Multimedia Application
Platform for "Wireless Information Devices" (WIDs) based on Symbian
EPOC technology. TI will offer a 320MIPS DSP combined with an ARM
RISC at 130MHz on a single chip using 0.15 micron effective CMOS
process technology.
http://www.ti.com/sc/docs/wireless/home.htm
[1999/06/01]
May 29, 1999, Tyler Hamilton writes for The Globe And Mail that
Industry Canada is shifting its policy regarding Local Multipoint
Communications Services (LMCS) towards bigger companies.
Industry Canada announced on May 28, 1999 that the radio spectrum
ranges in the 24GHz and 38GHz will be allocated via an open bid
auction in October. It is exected that the larger telephone
companies (BCE and BCT.Telus) and cable companies will dominate
the bidding. It has also been announced by Industry Canada that
WIC Connexus and MaxLink will be allowed to sell their licenses
in the 28GHz range. Earl Hoeg of Industry Canada says that "all
companies holding licences will be subject to strict 'spectrum'
caps and that any decision to transfer frequency between parties
must be reviewed and approved by Industry Canada."
[1999/05/30]
May 25, 1999, PR Newswire reports that Matsushita Communications
Industrial Co., Ltd. (Panasonic) has joined Ericsson, Motorola,
Nokia and Psion as a shareholder of Symbian, and is planning to
develop smartphones and communicators based on Symbian's EPOC
technology.
http://www.mci.panasonic.co.jp/
[1999/05/29]
May 25, 1999, PR Newswire reports that the Open eBook Authoring
Group has announced that it has completed its draft recommendation
of the Open eBook 1.0 Specification, based on HTML and XML.
http://www.openbook.org/
http://www.nist.gov/ebook99/
[1999/05/29]
May 25, 1999, Reuters reports that Motorola has reduced its
work force participation in Teledesic LLC which is building
a satellite communications network which will, among other
things, support internet services. Motorola owns about
26% of Teledesic.
[1999/05/29]
May 25, 1999, Business Wire reports that Cadence Design
Systems, Inc. has announced introduction of a system integration
platform and design services for developing "mobile information
appliances" including devices with wireless connectivity.
[1999/05/29]
May 25, 1999, Planet IT reports that the PDA Industry Association
is a non-profit organization dedicated to developing the PDA
market.
http://www.pdaia.org/
[1999/05/29]
May 25, 1999, Meg McGinity writes for tele.com that wireless
services may be oversold in some urban areas. Boston and
New York City are mentioned as potential problem areas.
http://www.techweb.com/se/directlink.cgi?TLC19990517S0018
[1999/05/25]
May 24, 1999, Business Wire reports that AMD has introduced its
Mobile AMD-K6(R)-III-P at speeds up to 380MHz. Features include
3 levels of cache (64KB Level I internal, 256KB Level II internal
and up to 1MB Level III external), 100MHz front-side buss,
3DNow!(TM), 2.2V. core voltage, external case temperature rating
of 80 degrees C, dissipating about 12W running typical applications.
The chip is being built using 0.25-micron, five-layer-metal
process at AMD's Fab25 facility in Austin, Texas. Available
immediately, the cost in 1,000 unit quantities is $349 US at
380MHz, $316 US at 366MHz, and $249 at 350MHz.
[1999/05/29]
Recent events make it appropriate to look closely at the running
of wireless services. The introduction of 3Com's Palm.Net,
the Bankruptcy of Conxus, the disappointing performance of Iridium
sales, the reduction of work by Motorola in Teledesic, the reports
of potential saturation problems of cell phone services, and the
currenly slim profits or ongoing losses of many companies bring
to mind similar concerns over Internet stocks. Unlike some of the
"Internet" companies, it has been almost impossible to start a
wireless company without heavy scrutiny by major investors and
thus, upper management and business practices that bring confidence
to the companies. Wireless companies are therefore a "chicken's
way to gamble big." But make no mistake -- it is a gamble. It is
entirely possible that every wireless service company currently
listed in the TSE will "survive" over the coming years. But nobody
is guaranteeing it.
[1999/05/29]
May 21, 1999, John D. Ruley wrote for Windows Magazine that 3Com would introduce its Palm VII wireless PalmOS device on Monday May 24, 1999 in New York City. The site is important because it is a product which will begin sales and usage in that area (actually Connecticut, New Jersey and New York) and will expand from there nation wide. The Palm VII does not currently have a general purpose Internet connection but rather, an Internet connected service which includes wireless E-Mail, paging and a "Web-clipping" service. The connection is provided by BellSouth using the Mobitex system which currently covers 93% of US urban areas, but with a slow 8,000 bps. List price for the Palm VII $599 US. Beyond that, pricing was a bit vague in the press release.
According to N'Gai Croal, Newsweek May 31, 1999, p. 59 a user will
pay $9.99 per month for 50KB or $24.99 per month for 150KB, and
$0.30 per additional KB.
[Material was added from my own sources.]
http://www.palm.com/pr/palmvii/7whitepaper.pdf
[1999/05/25]
May 21, 1999, Associated Press reports that Intel Corp. is
testing a wireless connected Internet device which they are
calling the "WebPad", which is about the size of an "Etch-a-sketch"
and intended to sell for about $500 US. The current version
requires a desk size computer and dedicated phone line and
the radio range is "around the house".
[1999/05/25]
May 20, 1999, Canada News Wire reports that Clearnet Communications
Inc. (Clearnet) has anounced its new "Say When" pre-paid all -
digital PCS service. Clearnet claims better prices for actual
usage than their competitors:
"- Airtime charges that are never more than 20 cents per minute
(other pre-paid services charge from 35 cents to 42 cents per
minute)
- Features such as voice mail, call waiting and caller ID at no
extra charge
- Convenient automatic monthly airtime deposits and the ability
to buy additional airtime over the phone; clients need not
purchase extra pre-paid cards that can be lost or stolen
- Billing by the second from the very first second on all calls
- A 30-day money back phone guarantee
- Free unlimited local birthday calling
- Free perks from Blockbuster and other Clearnet partners
Say When functionality also includes a Balance Checker, for
real-time information on account status directly from a client's
phone; Minute Reminder, which informs clients when they have
10 minutes or less of airtime remaining; and Talk Stopper,
which suspends calling when a client's account is exhausted--
ensuring no one spends more than they want."
The "Say When" kit costs $149.99 Cdn. and includes a Qualcomm 1960 single-mode (digital only) handset, charger and $50 airtime credit. Airtime is purchased via credit card in $25, $50 or $100 increments and is valid for up to a year. The handset is 140mm * 52mm * 19mm and weighs 120 grams.
[The "Say When" system is a bit unclear to me. According to
Clearnet, "Say When is available on any Clearnet rate plan for
an additional $5 per month. After buying a Clearnet Say When kit
. . . clients sign up for any standard Clearnet PCS service
plan." This sounds like it's manditory to sign up for a service
plan. But service plans are pre-paid, so I don't see how this
works.]
[1999/05/25]
May 19, 1999, BCE Mobile Communications Inc. (Bell Mobility) has
announced restructuring resulting in a reduction of staff from
about 3,200 down to about 2,900. BCE President Randall Reynolds
said ". . . from an operating point of view, our average revenue
per customer has been consistently dropping over the last couple
of years. As well, customers are selecting simpler services
with inherently lower overhead, such as prepaid services."
[1999/05/25]
May 18, 1999, Reuters reports that CONXUS Communications Inc.
and four of its affiliates have filed for Bankruptcy protection
in Delaware (US). The company has been building a US wide
narrowband PCS network based on Motorola's InFLEXion and Reflex
technologies, and launched its "Pocketalk portable answering
machine" as its first product in 1997.
[1999/05/25]
May 18, 1999, Business Wire reports that WebOnAir system
reduces data bandwidth by reducing graphics data and removing
"non-essential HTML code" before it is transmitted to wireless
users. It is being used by German Mannesmann.
[1999/05/22]
May 17, 1999, Business Wire reports that Compaq has introduced two new lower priced laptop computers. Both are immediately available in North America.
Armada 1500c, 366MHz Intel Celeron, 4GB SMART HD, 32MB RAM, 12.1"
colour TFT screen, 24X CD-ROM, 56K V.90 modem, with Windows 95
$1,799 US.
Armada 1750, 333MHz Intel Mobile Pentium II, 4GB SMART HD, 64MB
RAM, 12.1" colour TFT screen, 24X CD-ROM drive, 56K V.90 modem,
Windows 95 $1,999 US.
For either model, add $100 US for Windows NT. [I'm curious about
the inclusion of Windows 95. I would have expected Windows 98.]
Compaq also announced price cuts: "The Armada 1500c with 266MHz
Intel Celeron processor and a color STN (super-twist nematic)
display was reduced to $1,399 for the Windows 95 model, and the
Armada 1500c with 300MHz Intel Celeron processor and a color TFT
display was reduced to $1,599 for the Windows 95 model and $1,699
for the Windows NT model." Other promotions were announced to
be continued.
[1999/05/22]
May 17, 1999, Business Week reports that National Semiconductor
Corporation(R) has released the first version of a specification
for "Open Low Voltage Differential Signaling (LVDS) Display
Interface" (OpenLDI) which is intended to standardized the
digital connectivity for flat panel displays.
[1999/05/22]
May 17, 1999, Business Wire reports that Motorola Semiconductor
Products Sector and the Institute for Semiconductor Physics (IHP),
Frankfurt (Oder), Germany, have agreed to jointly develop a 0.18
micron / 0.25 micron wireless platform based on Motorola's CMOS
and IHP's proprietary silicon germanium carbon (SiGeC) technologies.
The expected benefits of "SiGe BiCMOS" technology will be higher
performance and lower cost.
http://www.ihp-ffo.de/
[1999/05/22]
May 11, 1999, Junko Yoshida writes for EE Times that AvantGo will be moving beyond PalmOS and WinCE by supporting pagers within the next few months. There is some mention in the article about AvantGo Version 2 [sic]. There is also a reference to a new service which sounds like ProxiNet's intermediate "on the fly" processing.
[The new version that was introduced was actually version 3.0.
Version 2.0 was a release for corporate LAN use. Unfortunately,
the new version 3 has many drawbacks and I'm not certain whether
I'll test it. I would have to use it on a computer I don't
currently use regularly, which make hampers conclusions.]
http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB19990511S0035
[1999/05/15] revised [1999/05/22]
May 14, 1999, Canada News Wire reports that Rogers Cantel and
Wynd Communications are bringing WyndTell(TM) to Canadians with
hearing disabilities, using the RIM Interactive Pager 950. [No
details of pricing were in the article. "The WyndTell service
and device are available through the Canadian Hearing Society,
271 Spadina Road, Toronto, ON M5R 2V3 (416) 928-2503
TTY (416) 928-2509.]
[1999/05/18]
May 14, 1999, Electronic Buyer's News reports that Samsung Electronics
has developed its own 8-bit RISC microprocessor called "CalmRISC".
The processor uses a parallel design that allows performance about
6* competing 8-bit parts. Samsung claims 20 MIPS at 3V and 40 MIPS
at 5V, using 30 - 70 microamps per MHz. The instruction set
includes specialized DSP or multimedia elements. Mass production
is targetted for the 2nd half of 1999 and will be built on older
0.5-micron, two-layer metal process.
[1999/05/18]
May 13, 1999, Business Wire reports that Bell Mobility has announced two new services and two market trials:
The New Services:Both services are available to all Bell Mobility PCS subscribers who have data-capable phones such as the Qualcomm QCP-2700. "There are no monthly access fees or contracts. Customers pay only 15 cents a minute for airtime, billed by the second.
The Market Trials:
http://www.bellmobility.ca/
[1999/05/18]
May 12, 1999, Business Wire reports that Motorolahas announce
its M210-S synthesizeable M-CORE technology core for system-
on-a-chip applications. According to Motorola it "can be
reconfigured for a variety of process technologies and is adaptable
to different design rules." It will be available for licensing
and use in Q3 1999.
[1999/05/18]
May 10, 1999, PR Newswire reports that Apple has announced its
new PowerBook laptop computers. According to Apple the new
models use "copper-based" technology 333MHz and 400MHz PowerPC
G3 processors, the new package weighs about 5.9 lbs. which is
about 2 lbs. lighter than the previous model and are about 20%
thinner.
PowerBook w/ 14.1-inch TFT display, 333MHz PPC G3 CPU, 512K L2 cache,
64MB RAM, 4GB HD, 24x-speed (max) CD ROM, Ethernet, 56K modem,
CDN ERP $3,699;
PowerBook w/ 14.1-inch TFT display, 400MHz PPC G3 CPU, 1MB L2 cache,
64MB RAM, 6GB HD, 2x-speed DVD-ROM, Ethernet, 56K modem,
CDN ERP $5,199.
[1999/05/15]
May 10, 1999, PR Newswire reports that Dragon Systems, Inc. and Apple
Computer, Inc. have announced that "Dragon Systems will create and
market Macintosh(R)-compatible products based on Dragon
NaturallySpeaking" speech recognition technology.
[1999/05/15]
May 10, 1999, Business Wire reports that Motorola has announced
new "temperature-tolerant" versions of PowerPC 750(TM) and
PowerPC 740(TM) microprocessors. These processors are designed
to operate within the range of -40 to +105 degrees Celsius.
At 266MHz they can provide up to 488 MIPS. The packages are
"Solder Column Interposes". The PowerPC 750 industrial-
temperature version is available at 200MHz and 266MHz in a
360-pin CBGA starting at a list price of $249 US each in
quantities of 1,000. The PowerPC 740 at 200MHz and 266MHz in a
255-pin CBGA package is priced at $229 US each in quantities
of 1,000.
[1999/05/15]
May 7, 1999, Canada News Wire reports that Microcell Solutions
Inc. and the Royal Bank have announced that they will develope
wireless banking services to access Royal Bank financial
services through Fido handsets. The companies expect that
commercial deployment of these services will be done in stages
by the end of this year.
http://www.microcell.ca/
http://www.fido.ca/
http://www.royalbank.com/
[1999/05/11]
May 7, 1999, Sandy Chen writes for Electronic Buyers' News that
Quanta Computer (Taiwan's largest laptop maker) is planning
to make flat panel displays. It is currently negotiating with
Sharp and Samsung for technology licenses. Quanta makes
laptop computers for Dell, HP, Gateway, IBM Siemens and Apple.
[1999/05/11]
May 6, 1999, Malcolm Maclachlan writes for TechWeb that th US
9th Circuit Court has ruled that the federal ban on exporting
strong encryption is unconstitutional because it violates
the right of free speech (applied to software code). [At the
time of this article, the Department of Justice had not yet
filed for a stay in order to appeal.]
[1999/05/11]
May 5, 1999, Business Wire reports that IBM and Motorola have
disclosed their new PowerPC(TM) "Book E" architecture which
maintains software compatibility with existing PowerPC
devices and defines enhancements aimed at embedded applications
networking infrastructure and telecommunications.
http://www.motorola.com/PowerPC/
http://www.chips.ibm.com/
[1999/05/11]
May 5, 1999, Business Wire reports that Motorola has announced that it has agreed with Silicon Storage Technology Inc. (SST) to license SST's 0.50 and 0.25 micron generation SuperFlash(R) embedded flash technology. According to Business Wire "SST's SuperFlash technology is a NOR type, split-gate cell architecture which suses a reliable thick-oxide process with fewer manufacturing steps resulting in low-cost , non-volatile memory solutions with excellent data retention and higher reliability."
"The split-gate NOR SuperFlash architecture facilitates a simple
and flexible design suitable for high performance, high reliability,
small or medium sector size, in- or off-system programming and a
variety of densities all in a single CMOS-compatible technology."
http://www.ssti.com/
[1999/05/11]
May 5, 1999, PR Newswire report that Microsoft Corp. has announced that
it has joined the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) Forum.
[1999/05/11]
May 5, 1999, Canada News Wire reports that IBM has announced its first Windows CE device -- the WorkPad z50. According to Susan Taylor of IBM, "One size doesn't fit all when it comes to PC Companion devices. That's why IBM is expanding its WorkPad line to provide users more choice in terms of connectivity, display and productivity features for easier access to their corporate data."
IBM WorkPad z50: 131 MHz NEC vr4121 MIPS RISC CPU, has 16 MB RAM, (upgradable to 48 MB) and 20 MB ROM holding Windows CE H/PC Professional Edition, version 3.0, 10.2" * 8.0" * 1.0", 2.6 lbs., keyboard is 95 per cent standard ThinkPad size, TrackPoint pointing device, 8.2-inch 640 * 480 * 64K colours DSTN VGA screen with 4MB VRAM, Li-Ion batteries (AA alkaline usable), Type III PC-Card slot (single socket) and Compact flash Type II, 33.6Kbps data/FAX modem, serial, infrared, external video, mike and audio ports, $1,599 Cdn.
Along with the standard WinCE software IBM has added its "IBM Global Network dialer" and "IBM Mobile Connect client" software which improves performance by synchronizing Palm OS and Windows CE-based devices directly with corporate networks, moving synchronization from an individual's desktop PC to a company's Lotus Notes Domino and Microsoft Exchange enterprise servers.
"Other available options for the WorkPad z50 include an extended-life battery ($329); WorkPad z50 docking kit for easy synchronization (docking cradle, serial cable and AC adapter) ($169); 32 MB memory upgrade ($149); cable for printing to standard parallel printers ($69); and PC Cards."
[According to the press release "[t]he WorkPad z50 is the first
IBM product to incorporate the IBM MicroDrive, the world's smallest
hard disk drive" but later it notes that the MicroDrive will be
"available mid-1999". If I seem to be paying a lot of attention to
this announcement it's because I'm considering buying one of these
"big WinCE" rigs for long term usage. I'm considering products by
HP, IBM and NEC. That's not really narrowing it down much is it?]
http://www.ibm.com/pc/ca/workpad/
http://www.pc.ibm.com/workpad/solutions/
[1999/05/08]
May 4, 1999, Jennifer Hagendorf writes for Computer Reseller
News that Hewlett-Packard has announced its OmniBook XE2 laptop
computer with Intel Celeron 333-MHz CPU and Microsoft Windows NT
Workstation 4.0.
HP OmniBook XE2, 333-MHz Celeron, 12.1" SVGA TFT screen, 32MB
SDRAM, 4GB HD, 56Kbps modem, 24X CD-ROM drive $1,849 US.
HP OmniBook XE2, 366-MHz Pentium II, 64MB SDRAM, 6GB HD, 13.3"
XGA TFT screen, $2,599 US.
[1999/05/08]
May 4, 1999, PR Newswire reports that Texas Instruments has
introduced its first 1.2V digital signal processors (DSPs) and
has announced that it is working on a "sub 1-volt" DSP.
The current announced products are low power versions of
TMS320C5409 and TMS320C5402. Both products are fully code
compatible with other 'C5000 variants.
http://www.ti.com/docs/msp/dsps.htm
[1999/05/08]
May 3, 1999, PR Newswire reports that PageMart Wireless Inc.
has introduced a Synapse(TM) one-way Pager Card for the 3Com
Palm III(R) organizer. The card contains 2MB of memory,
can receive word messages up to 300 characters long and
perform wireless scheduled updates. Among other included
functions is a free OmniBrowse client that allows subscribers
to receive customized news, sports, weather and stock
quotes. Cost is $129 US. The card is compatible with
all earlier Palm Computing(R) platform versions. [I have
heard, but not confirmed that this card will not work with
the Palm IIIx or Palm V. I understand that PageMart is
working on a Palm IIIx version. See their website for
news on this matter.]
http://www.pagemart.com/
http://www.motorola.com/wireless/
[1999/05/08]
May 3, 1999, Business Wire reports that Motorola and SAP have
announced plans to link the Motorola PageWriter(TM) 2000 two-way
pager with the "www.SAP.com" portal.
http://www.sap.com/
[1999/05/08]
Apr. 29, 1999, Reuters reports that Zero-Knowledge Systems has
placed a program on the Web demonstrating that Intel's method
of disabling the Pentium III serial number is still accessible
without the knowledge of the computer owner. Intel persuaded
Symantec to treat the program as "malicious". Norton AV now
shows a warning that the program is a "virus".
[1999/05/04]
Apr. 28, 1999, PR Newswire reports that Sprint PCS and Nortel
Networks have demonstrated 3rd generation wireless capabilities of
cdma2000 at Nortel Networks Wireless Solutions Lab in Richardson,
Texas. Capabilities demonstrated were "voice over IP," Web
browsing, data transfers and video conferencing at speeds up
to 384 kbits/sec (kbps [I have serious doubts that this is
"kbps" and not "Kbps" -- the writer might not know the difference.])
which is over 25 times faster than today's 14.4 kbps wireless
data service speed. The demonstration was made over "Nortel
Networks Metro Cell modular CDMA base stations and Nortel Networks
wide band software radio technology based on 3XRTT - phase two
of the cdma2000 3G evolution."
[1999/05/04]
Apr. 27 1999, Canada NewsWire reports that Teklogix International
Inc. has announced the introduction of a wide-area wireless
network for tracking movement of inventory beyond the warehouse.
The system is based on Ericsson AB Mobitex Wide Area Network.
[1999/05/01]
Apr. 27, 1999, PR Newswire reports that Isonics Corporation has
announced delivery of "isotopically pure silicon-28 epitaxial
wafers" to Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). AMD will test the
material for performance, chip yield and speed sorting compared
to normal silicon epitaxial wafers. The material is an extremely
pure version of silicon which is expected to show improvements
such as 50% higher thermal conductivity than natural silicon.
http://www.isonics.com/
[1999/05/01]
Apr. 26, 1999, Business Wire reports that BCE Mobile Communications Inc. has announced its unaudited financial results for 1999 Q1.
1999 1998
Cellular & PCS
Gross Activations
Prepaid 68,000
Total Cell & PCS 131,000 73,000
Churn Rate 1.4% 1.4%
Total Sub Mar. 31 1,541,000 1,241,000
Monthly Revenue
per subscriber $50 $60
Pager
Gross Activations 46,000 64,000
Cell, PCS & Page
Total Subscribers 2,088,000 1,730,000
Included in the total cell & PCS subscribers for Mar. 31, 1999
are 247,000 digital PCS and 217,000 prepaid customers.
[1999/05/01]
Apr. 26, 1999, Business Wire reports that Motorola has announced
it will license GPS technology from SnapTrack, adding it
to its "DigitalDNA" chip offerings for wireless platforms,
and has made an equity investment in SnapTrack.
http://www.snaptrack.com/
[1999/05/01]
Apr. 26, 1999, Reuters reports that Hewlett-Packard has cut
prices on some of its laptop computers:
OmniBook 900, 366 MHz Intel Pentium II $2,899 US (reduced
about 17.5%).
OmniBook 900, 300MHz microprocessor [type not specified]
$2,399 (reduced about 5.3%).
[1999/05/01]
Apr. 26, 1999, (Business Wire) reports that Gateway has
announced its Solo 9150 high end laptop computer which
features a 15" display, 8MB video RAM with AGP, and the
Solo 3150 thinline laptop with integrated DVD.
Solo 9150, 15" display, Pentium II CPUs, up to 384MB memory,
up to 14GB HD, LiIon batteries, internal modem, ATI Rage LT
Pro AGP graphics, prices start at $2,399 US.
Solo 3150, Intel Celeron and Pentium II CPUs, "five pound
design", prices start at $2,099 US.
http://www.gateway.com/portables/
[1999/05/01]
Apr. 26, 1999, Business Wire reports that AMD has announced its
Am29LV640U high density 3.0 V NOR flash memory device. Using
an 0.23 micron process, the device is capable of 90 nanosecond
access times and interfacing with 5.0V, 3.0V or 1.8V system
busses. It also includes a 256-byte security ID number to
prevent cloning. Samples are currently available and production
is expected in Q3. Package options include 63-ball FBGA and
48-pin TSOP and the price is $23.55 each in 10,000-piece
quantities.
[1999/05/01]
Apr. 23, 1999, Andy Patrizio writes for Windows Magazine that
Microsoft has found more Y2K problems in Windows 98 and expects
to post fixes within "the next few weeks."
[1999/04/27]
Apr. 22, 1999, Business Wire reports that National Semiconductor
Corporation(R) and Sharp Corporation have agreed to produce chipsets
supporting XGA TFT LCD display panels using National's Reduced
Swing Differential Signal (RSDS(TM)) lower power, low EMI (noise)
digital interfacing technology. According to National, RSDS is a
deritive of the Low Voltage Differential Signal (LVDS) technology
used in National's FPD-Link interface chipset which is widely used
to connect notebook motherboards to flat panel display interfaces.
According to Yoshiko Sano of Sharp, this technology is "key to the
upgrade migration towards larger and higher-resolution TFT LCD
panels."
http://www.national.com/
[1999/04/27]
Apr. 19, 1999, Business Wire reports that IBM has introduced its
ThinkPad 570 laptop computer which combines the portability of
the latest thin format "ultra-portables" with the power and
flexability of a desk computer by attaching its "UltraBase"
expansion unit. In its smallest configuration 2644-2AU/F which
measures 11.8" * 9.4" * 1.0" and weighs 3.9 lbs. including
battery, the UltraBase about 2.9 lbs. [and about 2/3" in
thickness, looking at the photographs]. IBM uses an
"UltraCarbon" case material which is carbon fibre reinforced
which gives a lighter, thinner package with increased heat
dissipation. Current versions are available with PE300, 333 and
366 MHz versions of Intel Mobile Pentium II CPUs. Prices start
at $2,699 US and the UltraBase is $119.00 US. [Some of this
material is from IBM Canada and some from Business Wire.]
http://www.pc.ibm.com/us/thinkpad/
[1999/04/24]
Apr. 20, 1999, Canada NewsWire reports that Rogers Cantel Mobile Communications has announced its results for 1999 Q1 ending on Mar. 31, 1999.
3 Months Ended Mar. 31
1999 1998
Total Cellular Subscribers 1,800,300
Gross Cellular Activations 147,700 96,300
Digital PCS Subscribers 600,000
(about 33% of total
cellular subscriber
base is now Digital PCS)
"Pay as you go" 145,000
(16.6% of gross subscriber
additions and 39.3% of
net subscriber additions
were "Pay as you go.")
Churn rate Cellular 1.74% 1.79%
Average monthly usage (min.) 184 197
monthly revenue per unit $47.08 $53.34
Paging and data activations 22,900 22,300
Total Paging
and Data Subscribers 259,700
Churn rate for Pag. & Dat 2.95% 3.39%
See the article for financial stats. [1999/04/24]
Apr. 19, 1999, Canada NewsWire reports that Microcell Solutions Inc.
has announced its latest service package "FidoPro(TM)" which features
Fido E-Mail and new "Performance Voice Messaging(TM)" with "Instant
Reply" which allows returning a call with a single key from within
the voice mail service, Call Display and Text Messaging. At $25
Cdn. the Fidopro kit includes the first 3 months of service, a
CD-ROM with software, a PIN number for activation, documentation
and a mouse pad. The monthly fee after the first 3 months is
$8 Cdn. "As an introductory offer new customers activating on a
$20/100, $40/400 or $100/1000 price plan before June 8, 1999 will
receive a $25 credit on their first invoice, equivalent to the
price of their FidoPro kit."
[1999/04/24]
Apr. 19, 1999, PR Newswire reports thatin a comparison of "next- generation" architectures for wireless Internet, the Yankee Group in its report entitled "Positioning for an IP Mobility World" ranked Nortel Networks No. 1. According to Crispin Vicars, director, Yankee Group, '"Nortel Networks has the clout and the IP goods" to deliver on its Unified Networks vision.' Noting that the market is still in early stages the report "cites the breadth of Nortel Networks cellular, PCS and data networking product portfolio, along with 'extensive coverage' of both the wireless service provider and enterprise markets, as particular strengths of the Nortel Networks next-generation wireless architecture."
[I have suspected that Nortel Networks had the lead, but I don't
have the resources to do sufficient research of this type. I
cannot comment on The Yankee Group's research methodology which was
not detailed in the article. I can only suggest that if you are
concerned with this field, that you try to obtain a copy of the
report and study it carefully.]
[1999/04/24]
Apr. 19, 1999, Business Wire reports that Lucent and Motorola have
unveiled their Star-Core SC140 DSP developed at the Star-Core
Technology Center. Specifications are 3000 MIPS or 1.2 billion
MAC (multiply - accumulate operations)/sec., 0.1mA/MIPS at 300MHz
on a 1.5V power supply. According to Star-Core, a 120MHz 0.9V SC140
would yield performance of 1200 MIPS and 480 million MAC/sec. and
dissipate only 0.066 mA/MIPS at the 0.9V. power level. The
design includes 4 MAC units, 4 ALUs, 4 bit-field units (BFUs),
2 arithmetic address units and a 5 stage pipeline. The SC140 is
based on a 16-bit orthogonal instruction set but is designed to use
variable-length execution sets (VLES). "Star-Core VLES technology
allows multiple 16-bit instructions and optional prefixes to be
grouped together for single-cycle execution based on opportunities
identified in the specific code to be run on the DSP core."
http://www.starcore-dsp.com/
[1999/04/24]
Apr. 19, 1999, PR Newswire reports that Motorola, Glenayre Technologies
AirTouch Paging, Arch Communications Group, Conxus, Metrocall,
MobileComm, PageMart, PageNet, SkyTel and TSR Wireless have formed the
Personal Communicator Wireless Alliance with the aim of developing
and marketing "PDA" style devices for two-way messages for consumers.
The article specifically mentions the intention to use open
architectures based on Internet standards and to support a "variety of
operating systems", specifically mentioning Palm OS and Windows CE.
[Conspicuously absent at this point are RIM, Intel, 3Com, Microsoft,
Geoworks or any of the major handheld computer makers. Symbian is
theoretically represented by Motorola].
[1999/04/24]
Apr. 16, 1999, Canada News Wire reports that Microcell
Telecommunications Inc. has announced that it has agreed with
Navitar Communications Inc. that Navitar will be a wholesaler
of Microcell's GSM wirless phone services.
[1999/04/20]
Apr. 15, 1999, Canada News Wire reports that Microcell
Telecommunications has claimed to have acquired 62,169 additional
customers in Q1, 1999, bringing total active subscriptions to
344,343, compared to 282,174 at the end of Q4 1998 or compared
to 97,167 at the end of Q1, 1998. [Microcell did not break out
pre-paid and post-paid numbers, which will probably be included
in the quarterly financial report later.]
[1999/04/20]
Apr. 14, 1999, Canada News Wire reports that Clearnet Communications Inc. has announced its Q1 1999 subscription statistics.
Net Additions
3 Months Ending
Mar 31, 1999
Digital 38,457
- Mike 16,480
- PCS 21,977
Analogue SMR (4,113)
Total 34,344
Total as at
Mar. 31, 1999
Digital 346,930
- Mike 130,575
- PCS 216,355
Analogue SMR 36,419
Total 383,349
[1999/04/20]
Apr. 14, 1999, PR Newswire reports that Motorola and Sprint
announced that Sprint is now offering Motorola StarTAC ST7762
handsets for use with its US CDMA 1900 MHz PCS cellular phone system.
Occupying 5.5 cubic inches, including an extra capacity LiIon
battery, it weighs 4.2 oz. and is claimed to give up to 4 hours
talk time or up to 110 hours standby time. Features include a
64 character graphics LCD display, VibraCall(TM) and Caller ID.
The price is $299.99 US.
[1999/04/20]
Apr. 13, 1999 PR Newswire reports that Excite, Inc. and Starfish
Software Inc. have demonstrated a pre-release of "Excite Planner"
which is a free Internet based organizer allowing users to
synchronize mobile and desk computer organizers, including
3Com Palm devices, HP WinCE, Microsoft(R) Outlook(R), Lotus
Organizer(R), Lotus Notes, Act!(TM) Schedule+ and Sidekick(R).
It will be available in Q2 1999 on Excite's Website.
http://www.planner.excite.com/
http://www.starfish.com/
[1999/04/17]
Apr. 13, 1999, Business Wire reports that Dictaphone, e.Digital,
IBM, Intel, Norcom Electronics, Olympus, Philips and others,
have formed "Voice Technology Initiative for Mobile Enterprise
Solutions" (VoiceTIMES) to define specifications for how voice
commands and information are transmitted and received by existing
and future mobile devices in order to build interoperable,
cost-effective mobile "solutions" with voice technology. Target
technologies are speech recognition, speaker identification and
speech synthesis.
[1999/04/17]
Apr. 13, 1999, PR Newswire reports that the North American GSM Alliance, LLC has reaffirmed its support of multiple technologies for third generation wireless systems. Modes supported include W-CDMA, cdma2000, TDD mode and TDMA. CDMA based modes will vary with regard to chip rate, synchronization structure and pilot structure, to accomodate operators' business needs.
Apr. 12, 1999, PR Newswire reports that Fujitsu Personal Systems, Inc.
demonstrated its PenCentra 130 based on Windows CE H/PC Pro for
industrial use. [No details were in the article.]
[1999/04/17]
Apr. 12, 1999, PR Newswire reports thatat DemoMobile 99, Lotus
Development Corp. unveiled Mobile Services for Domino (MSD) 1.0
its wireless "solution" and announced the shipment of EasySync
Release 3.0 for Notes which works with Lotus Notes R5 clients.
Lotus says its goal is "pervasive collaboration."
[1999/04/17]
Apr. 12, 1999, Mathew Ingram writes for The Globe And Mail that
Wi-LAN Corp. has passed a "poison pill" shareholders rights plan
to avoid unfreindly takeovers. The company is a maker of wireless
LAN systems based on "wide-band orthogonal frequency division
multiplexing" capable of 30 Mbits/sec. over long distances whereas
competing technologies are currently capable of around 1 - 2 Mbits/sec.
[1999/04/17]
Apr. 10, 1999, Responsive Database Services reports that Yoshiko
Hara wrote in the Apr. 5, 1999 Electronic Engineering Times
about a number of LCD manufacturers attempting to market screens
for uses outside the laptop computer market. The article mainly
follows Sharp who has succeeded with its 1997 Super Mobile LCD
used in Nintendo's colour Game Boy and is planning to replace
CRTs in its TV set line by 2005, but also notes similar moves
by Toshiba and Sanyo Semiconductor.
[1999/04/13]
Apr. 10, 1999, Responsive Database Services reports that according
to an article written by Antony Bruno for the March 1999 issue of
"Global Wireless", Globalstar had aimed for 20 satellites of its
a 48 satellite system to be in orbit by the end of January 1999.
The system is designed to handle 65,000 simultaneous users which
is estimated to be enough for 9 million subscribers overall.
Although similar to Iridium in concept, it is not aimed to cover
the world as completely, being based on a business model of being
an extension to cellular coverage.
[1999/04/13]
Apr. 10, 1999, Responsive Database Services reports that according
to the March 1999 issue of Global Wireless, Samsung Telecommunications
America Inc. has introduced its SCH-2500 CDMA wireless handset which
is its first tri-mode CDMA handset, usable in 800 and 1900 MHz CDMA
coverage areas as well as 800 MHz AMPS (analog) cellular coverage
areas.
[1999/04/13]
Apr. 6, 1999, Andrew Dornan wrote for TechWeb on Mark 26, 1999,
that that ITU has agreed on a compromise put forward by Ericsson
and Qualcomm which includes the purchase by Ericsson of Qualcomm's
entire mobile data business including its R&D facilities and
rights to its intellectual property. The resulting system known
as International Mobile Telecommunications 2000 (IMT-2000) will
allow data transmission up to 2Mbits/sec.
http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB19990326S0003
also:
http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB19990325S0015
by Madeleine Acey
[1999/04/10]
Apr. 6, 1999, Business Wire reports that Philips Semiconductors
has announced that it has developed a new, patented silicon - on
- insulator (SOI) process called EZ-HV(TM) that allows high voltage
components (up to 650V) to be "integrated more easily alongside
low-voltage analog and digital circuitry on commercial silicon
chips." Philips claims that this technology will allow smaller
power supplies for cell phones and other mobile products.
[1999/04/10]
Mar. 30, 1999, Jae-Hee Lee writes for Reuters that Samsung Electronics
has unveiled what it claims is the "world's smallest Internet cellular
phone" by which is meant that it is "able to access and display
information from the Internet." The unit weighs 158 grams and has
a 70mm * 30mm touch screen panel. It supports CDMA technology, can
store 2,000 addresses and can hold schedule items and memos. There
are dictionaries, advanced calculator capabilities books and games.
The price has not been set, but Samsung estimates about $82 - $123 US
more than Samsung's current cell phones. Sales are expected to begin
in April 1999. A "watch phone" was also announced.
http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/reuters/REU19990330S0002
[1999/04/03] revised [1999/04/06
Apr. 6, 1999, Business Wire reports that according to IBM, some Aptiva(R) PCs with model numbers 240, 301, 520 and 580 manufactured between Mar. 5 and Mar. 17, 1999 and sold in the US may be infected with the CIH virus and my not operate when the calendar reaches Apr. 26 of any year. Check the UL logo for "MFG DATE" AM909, AM910 or AM 911. Users with these products should contact IBM for a free antivirus program update. More information can be obtain by calling (800) 600-8235.
While these infected computers were not "mobile products", I
felt that it was likely that some of the computers would be used
on networks with laptops which would probably become infected,
making it worthwhile mentioning here.
http://www.ibm.com/support/
[1999/04/10]
Mar. 30, 1999, PR Newswire reports that Command Software Systems
claims to have developed a fix for the "Papa.B" virus. The "Papa.B"
virus is similar to the "Melissa" virus, but is directed at Excel 97
files via Outlook. The Excel file is sent as an attachment to a
message titled "Fwd: Workbook from all.net and Fred Cohen". The
body of the message says "Urgent info inside. Disregard macro
warning."
http://www.commandcom.com/
[1999/04/06]
Mar. 29, 1999, Canada News Wire reports that Clearnet Communications
Inc. has announced that "The Mike Network" service is now available
in Victoria, BC.
[1999/04/03]
Mar. 29, 1999, Business Wire reports that Hewlett-Packard Company
has announced an upgrade kit for the HP620LX and 660LX colour
handheld computers from Windows(R) CE 2.0 to Windows CE Handheld
Professional Edition. Included HP specific applications feature
64K colour and MP3 player support, "full backup capabilities",
HP Viewer for PIM information, HP Quick Pad. The upgrade also
increases the built-in RAM of the 620LX from 16MB to 32MB matching
the 660LX. The kit is expected in early June at $179 US.
http://www.shopping.hp.com/
http://www.hp.com/jornada/
[1999/04/03]
Mar. 29, 1999, Dic Satran writing for Reuters on the "Melissa" virus
notes that Network Associates says that the "Papa" virus which is
similar to the "Melissa" virus has shown up and is more dangerous
than the "Melissa" virus because it delivers a macro which can
"disrupt" Excel spreadsheets.
[1999/04/03]
Mar. 29, 1999, Associate Press reports that along with spreading via Microsoft Word 97 and Word 2000 as mentioned previously, the Melissa virus is propogated through Microsoft's Outlook and Outlook Express e-mail program. Some antivirus software companies including McAfee, Symantec, Trend Micro and Sophos have posted patches to cover the virus. According to Katherine Fithen, "people can also protect themselves by not opening the attachments."
[I find it surprising that it would be so specific to these programs.
For example, WordPerfect Suite is going to support Microsoft macros.
So will the Melissa virus propogate through WordPerfect Suite? Has
this possibility been tested or are they just assuming it won't
happen?]
[1999/04/03]
Mar. 29, 1999, Business Wire reports that AMD has announced
380MHz and 350MHz versions of its Mobile AMD K6(R)-2 CPU with
3DNow! technology. The processors operate at a core voltage of
2.2V with "an extended case temperature" rating of 80 degrees C.,
dissipating less than 12 watts when running typical applications.
The processors are built using a 0.25-micron five-layer-metal
process in Austin, Texas, and contain about 9.3 million transistors.
The 3DNow! instruction set includes "single instruction multiple
data" (SIMD) commands.
[1999/04/03]
Mar. 29, 1999, Business Wire reports that Compaq is using 380MHz and
350MHz Mobile AMD K6(R)-2 CPUs in its latest Prosignia 150 Series
laptop computers. Prices start at $1,799 US.
[1999/04/03]
Mar. 29, 1999, Business Wire reports that AMD has announced its
Am29SL160C 1.8V-only 16Mbit flash memory device. The device features
read times as fast as 100 nanosec., almost 0 power sleep mode, no
latency/wake-up time, electronic serialization (providing a unique
ID to prevent equipment cloning), accelerated programming mode and
hardware write protect. Available in a 48-pint TSOP and 48-ball Fine
Pitch BGA, it is pin compatible with the 8-Mbit Am29SL800C device
and 3.0V and 5.0V devices. In quantities of 10,000 pieces, the
price is $8.50 each.
[1999/04/03]
Mar. 27, 1999, Associated Press reports that according to Carnegie
Mellon's Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) the "W97M_Melissa"
macro virus infects computers using Microsoft Word 97 or Word 2000
via infected e-mail. According to the article "if a computer user
opens an infected Word-format document, the virus propogates itself
by reading the user's e-mail address book and sending an infected
message to the first 50 entries. . . The Message can include the
contents of any Word document that is open on the computer. . . .
[T]he virus reproduces and sends so much unwanted e-mail that the
volume can overload some mail servers. . . . However, it apparently
causes no direct damage to a computer's memory or programs. Infected
documents are sent as attachments to e-mails most frequently bearing
a header "Subject: Important Message From" the name of the person
whose computer relayed the virus. The body of the message says
"Here is that document you asked for ... don't show it to anyone
else ;-)."
http://www.cert.org/advisories/CA-99-04-Melissa-Macro-Virus.html
http://www.microsoft.com/security/bulletins/ms99-002.asp
[1999/03/30]
Prior to CeBIT there was confusion over what Psion had planned. Around
Mar. 15, Psion gave out information about some future products to
the British press. No general press releases were forthcoming. To
this day, I have no official information regarding the products that
were shown at CeBIT. They were apparently called "Jedi" and "Quantum".
Psion's Website, so far, has no information about thise products, and
I have doubts about the accuracy of some of the postings to various news
websites. So far, there are two products by Ericsson that are officially
announced by Ericsson. One appears to be a minor update of the Psion
Series 5. That is the closest thing to a "new Psion product" in the
near term future.
[1999/03/23] revised [1999/03/30]
Mar. 22, 1999, Stephanie Green writes for Computer Reseller News that
the PCMCIA standards organization is taking over the administration
of the SmartMedia Card and Miniature Cards standards. PCMCIA also
unveiled the CardX Standard "which will allow USB an 1394 serial
devices to be plug compatible with PC Cards" and announced that
PC Card Release 7.0 will be available Mar. 31.
[1999/03/27]
Mar. 19, 1999, Peter Clarke writes for EE Times that Ericsson
has launched its R380 dual band smart phone based on the Symbian
EPOC operating system used in the Psion Series 5 handheld
computer. Featuring handwriting and voice recognition. [The
article notes that "the phone also provides a keypad on the
flip-lid" but does not specify it its a QWERTY for text or T9
style keypad for dialing.]
[1999/03/23]
Mar. 18, 1999, Business Wire reports that Motorola has shown new
digitial wireless handsets at CeBIT including
v3688 GSM phone: Which is claimed to be "the world's smallest
and lightest dual-band GSM phone"
L7089 GSM World Phone: which is claimed to be "the world's
first tri-band GSM phone" and operates on all three GSM
frequencies, allowing one handset to roam anywhere in "Europe,
Asia or the Americas where roaming agreements allow." The
handset also includes infrared data connectivity and full
voice command capability.
TalkAbout(TM) 200: "the first two-way radio product for
European consumers."
Advisor(TM) Graphix: "An Advanced pager which makes it possible
to receive email and other information - such as stock market
prices - while on the move. It has a number of personal organiser
functions including phone number storage, event reminders and to-do
list."
StarTAC(TM)D Dual Slot phone
Motorola also announced it will launch its first WAP-compliant
GSM digital phone in the second half of 1999. "And in 2000, once
the interoperability elements of the protocol are finalised, Motorola
will make its entire digital mobile phone range WAP compliant.
Also mentioned, but not detailed was "a new mobile organiser for the
company's StarTAC(TM) GSM phones."
[1999/03/23]
Mar. 18, 1999, Business Wire reports that Compaq has announced its
"Compaq Academic Series" line of desktop and laptop computers.
Each includes one of 9 "LearningPaqs".
Compaq Armada Academic 1500c, 266MHz or 300MHz Intel Celeron,
12.1 CSTN or CTFT (800 * 600) screen, 32MB memory, 4.0GB SMART HD,
24X max CD-ROM, 56K V.90 integrated modem, NiMH battery, estimated
prices $1,694 US w/266MHz CPU or $1,994 US w/300MHz CPU. [This
article does not state whether the screens are the same prices or
whether there are restrictions on ordering.]
Compaq Armada Academic 1750, 300MHz Intel Pentium II, 13.3" CTFT
1024 * 768 screen, 64MB RAM, 4.0GB SMART HD, AGP, 24X max CD-ROM,
56K V.90 integrated modem, LiIon battery, $2,794 US.
All are immediately available.
[1999/03/23]
Mar. 18, 1999, Reuters reports that the US FCC has proposed to
allow 9 competing satellite communications companies to share a
proposed 2GHz band of radio spectrum for mobile telecommunications.
The companies include Iridium World Communications Ltd., Constellation
Communications Inc., Mobile Communications Holdings Inc., Boeing,
Celsat America Inc., ICO Global Communications Ltd., Inmarsat,
and TMI Communications and Co.
[1999/03/23]
Mar. 18, 1999, Associated Press reports that Microsoft has provided
fixes to remove identifying numbers that might be usable to trace
authorship of some electronic documents. One patch stops the
number from being included in new documents and the second removes
it from existing documents. The numbers were being planted in
some documents created with Office 97 programs such as Word and
Excel. Microsoft admits having collected the numbers along with
customer names and addresses even when customers specifically
indicated they did not want the numbers disclosed.
[1999/03/23]
Mar. 17, 1999, Business Wire reports that Hewlett-Packard Company has announced its HP Jornada 680 handheld computer. This latest version of 600 series combines Windows CE Professional Edition software in a colour screen, "76%" size keyboard format in a package that is 7.4" * 3.7" * 1.3" and weighing 1.1 lbs. (batteries not specified). HP claims an 8-hour battery life with a 133MHz processor. The Jornada 680 includes a V.90 modem at $899 US, available in April.
An upgrade for for previous 600 series handhelds was also announced,
to be available in May.
[1999/03/23]
Mar. 16, 1999, Canada News Wire reports that ATI Technologies has
announced that Compaq has selected its Rage(TM) Pro mobile graphics
accelorator for Compaq's new Presario 1675, 1670 and 1270 "Value
Line" laptop computers.
[1999/03/20]
Mar. 16, 1999, PR Newswire reports that Extended Systems has announced
Enterprise Harmony '99 data synchronization software which it claims
will synchronize Windows CE, Palm and Casio Pocket Viewer handheld
devices with Microsoft Outlook, Lotus Notes, Lotus Organizer, Symantec's
Act!, GoldMind and other applications. List prices is $59.95 US.
http://www.extendedsystems.com/
[1999/03/20]
Mar. 16, 1999, Amy K Larsen writes for Information Week that Sterling
Commerce Inc's Connect: Manage 2.0 uses techniques such as re-deploying
specific files or parts or files instead of whole applications in
a method similar to data file synchronization for handheld computers
to reduce bandwidth for maintaining remote computers.
[1999/03/20]
Mar. 15, 1999, Business Wire reports that Compaq has announced its
latest version of the Armada 1750 laptop computer.
Armada 1750, 14.1" colour TFT display, 333MHz Intel mobile
Pentium(R) II, 6.4GB SMART HD, 64MB SDRAM (expandable to 192MB),
24X CD-ROM, 56Kbps V.90 modem, LiIon battery, dual integrated
speakers with Compaq PremierSount(TM), spill resistant keyboard,
shock resistant HD enclosure, internal AC adapter, w/Win 95
$2,799, win Windows NT Workstation 4.0 $2,899.
[1999/03/20]
Mar. 15, 1999, PR Newswire reports that Franklin Electronic Publishers
announced that Hewlett-Packard Company will give a coupon to those who
purchase an HP Jornada 820 from March 15, 1999 to Mary 30, 1999 which
subject to paying $10 US for shipping and handling, will entitle the
customer to a free REX-3.
[1999/03/20]
Mar. 15, 1999, Business Wire reports that Hewlett-Packard Company has
announced its first white light LED devices. The devices use "InGaN"
LED chips coated with an yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) in organic
phosphor "to provide a white light which is nominally x=0.31, y=0.32"
on the Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage (CIE) 1931 chromaticity
diagram, representing a colour temperature of about 6500K. Luminous
intensity (brightness) is 2,000 millicandela (mcd) for lamps with
15-degree viewing angle and 800 mcd for lamps with 30-degree viewing
angle (typical at 20mA forward current). Prices in quantities of
100,000 are $0.95 US each.
[1999/03/20]
Mar. 12, 1999, Canada News Wire reports that Rogers Cantel Inc. has
claimed that on March 12, it became the first company to offer
Digital PCS services in Thunder Bay, Ontario.
[1999/03/12]
Mar. 11, 1999, Canada News Wire reports that Bell Canada and
Bell Mobility have announced their new "Integrated Message Centre"
(IMC) service which is a "single voice mailbox, for both their wireline
and wireless services." The service can be bought through Bell Canada
or Bell Mobility and costs $3.00 Cdn. per month.
[1999/03/16]
Mar. 11, 1999, PR Newswire reports that 3Com Corporation and Microsoft
Corporation have agreed to work together to develop "co-branded" home
networking products, including Ethernet, home phone line networking
kits, RF and "power-line carrier" (PLC) kits.
[1999/03/16]
Mar. 11, 1999, David Lieberman writes for EE Times that Virtual
Vision has demonstrated a prototype miniature display called
"eGlass" which is a 4 oz. headset with 1 cubic inch monitor which
creates a "full-color, full-motion virtual image of between
16" diagonal at a distance of 2 feet and 60 inches at 6.6 feet.
It incorporates a reflective liquid-crystal-on-silicon (LCOS)
display by Colorado MicroDisplay." First samples will be in
the $5,000 US price range.
[1999/03/16]
Mar. 10, 1999, Jennifer Hagendorf writes for Computer Reseller News that
Panasonic has introduced its Toughbook 33 which features a magnesium
alloy case and shock-damped hard drive.
Toughtbook 33, 8.4" SVGA TFT screen, 266-MHz Intel Pentium MMX, 32MB RAM,
4.3GB HD [not specified if battery included], 2.6 lbs., touch screen,
$1,999 US.
[1999/03/16]
Mar. 8, 1999, PR Newswire reports that Apple Computer, Inc. has
reduced the prices on the PowerBook G3 series laptop computers.
Current models are 233, 266 or 300MHz. Price with 14.1" screen
56Kbps modem, S-Video out, ATI Rage LT Pro graphics, SCSI and
hot-swappable expansion bays, starts at $1,999 US. US sales
between Mar. 5 - Apr. 30, 1999 will also receive either Connectix
Virtual PC or an extra 64MB RAM.
[1999/03/13]
Mar. 8, 1999, Business Wire reports that AMD had introduced its
Mobile AMD-K6(R)-2 processor at 380, 366 and 350 MHz. AMD
claims the 380 Mhz version is the highest clock speed of any
mobile CPU currently available. The 100Mhz frontside bus
is supported by Super7(TM) chipsets from ALi, VIA and Trident,
and include features such as 2X AGP graphics, Level 2 cache up
to 1,024KB. Core voltage is 2.2V, dissipating less than 12W
running typical applications, resulting in an "extended case
temperature rating" of 80 degrees C. Manufactured using 0.25-micron
five-layer-metal process, it comes in a 321-pin ceramic pin grid
array (CPGA) package. Prices in quantities of 1,000 are $169 US
each for P/380, $149 US for 366MHz and $119 US for 350MHz versions.
[1999/03/13]
Mar. 8, 1999, Business Wire reports that Compaq has announced that it is the first company to produce laptop computers featuring AMD's latest higher speed K6-2 CPUs.
The new processors are included in the Compaq Presario 1270 (350MHz),
Presario 1670 (350Mhz) and Presario 1675 (380MHz). The Presario 1270
is priced as low as $1,699 US.
[1999/03/13]
Mar. 8, 1999, Reuters reports that Hewlett-Packard Co. has announced more prices cuts "to maintain an edge over . . . Compaq Computer Corp." [I make no comment about this claim.]
HP OmniBook 4150 is reduced to $3,599 US.
[1999/03/13]
Mar. 5, 1999, Business Wire reports that Hewlett-Packard Company
has announced its HP GSM design library supporting "global system
for mobile communications" (GSM) standards set by the European
Telecommunication Standards Institute (ETSI). Going beyond the
basic standards, HP claims practical libraries based on real-world
tested experience. The libraries start at $20,000 US and will
be available in June for HP and Sun Unix systems and Windows(R) 95
and NT 4.0 systems.
http://www.hp.com/go/hpeesof/
[1999/03/09]
Mar. 5, 1999, Doug Olenick writes for Computer Retail Week about
Sony's latest portable computers (see Feb. 27, 1999 below for previous
information about the PictureBook):
Vaio PCV-L600 Slimtop computer is a desktop computer which uses laptop
technology, 14.1" TFT monitor, full size keyboard, 500MHz Intel
Pentium III, 10.8GB HD, 128 MB SDRAM, 4MB video RAM, Memory-Stick slot,
$2,999 US.
C1 PictureBook, 266MHz Pentium MMX, 64MB SDRAM, 4.3GB HD, USB port,
56Kbps V.90 modem, $2,299 US.
As metioned above, Sony has developed a new memory device called the
"Memory-Stick" which holds flash memory and is used in a number of
products.
[1999/03/05]
Mar. 4, 1999, Canada News Wire reports that Nortel Networks has announced
Meridian IP Telecommuter allows remote telephony over an IP network
connection along with data. Used on a Windows 95/98 desk computer
or laptop, the user can attach a Meridian 9617 Universal Serial Bus
(USB) phone or the supplied "softphone" and use the phone through
an IP Line Card in a Nortel Networks' Meridian 1 communications system
at the company's main facility, allowing full use of the communications
system services such as "Calling Line ID, Meridian Mail or CallPilot
Messaging, as if they were in the office building.
[1999/03/09]
Mar. 4, 1999, PR Newswire reports that Nortel Networks has demonstrated
coverage of 200 km radius at 800 MHz using a single CDMA Metro Cell
base station using cdmaOne (IS0-95 CDMA) signals with extended range
enhancements. The tests were made at its Wireless Solutions labs in
Ottawa.
[1999/03/09]
Mar. 3, 1999, Reuters reports that Iridium World Communications Limited
is experiencing some teething problems in "sales and distribution."
Motorola handsets are being shipped, but Kyocera handsets have not yet
become available due to quality problems.
[1999/03/09]
Mar. 2, 1999, Business Wire reports that AT&T Corp., Lucent Technologies
and Motorola Inc. have formed "the Voice eXtensible Markup Language
Forum (VXML Forum) to promote a standard for the programming language
used to create data and services on the Web that are accessible by
touch-tone or wireless telephones." The article claims that 17
other companies including 3Com Corporation, Blue Diamond, British
Telcommunications plc, Dragon Systems, General Magic, Hewlett-Packard,
IBM, Lernout & Hauspie, Nortel Networks, Nuance Communications, Online
Anywhere, Philips, Registry Magic, SpeechWorks, Unisys, Vocalis and
Vogo have agreed to support the VXML forum.
http://www.vxmlforum.org/
http://www.voxml.com/
[1999/03/06]
Mar. 2, 1999, Canada News Wire reports that Nortel Networks has
announced its OpenSpeech Recognizer Developer Kit to be used
for developing speech recognition enabled applications on
Windows 95, 98 and NT, and SCO Unix platforms.
[1999/03/06]
Mar. 2, 1999, Canada News Wire reports that Rogers Cantel Inc. has
announced its new alphanumeric paging based service "E-mail2go"
which allows users to receive e-mail messages up to 160 characters
long directly on the screen of a pager. Messages may be copied
to home or office e-mail addresses and acknowledgement of reception
sent to senders. Cost is $3.95 for 300 messages per month (on top
of monthly service fee) and $0.10 per message for additional messages.
[1999/03/06]
Mar. 2, 1999, Canada News Wire reports that InterPage of Montreal
will market the "MobiVox(TM) which uses MobiDARC(R) technology
developed by Info Telecom in France allowing it to receive voice,
text or graphics. MobiVox(TM) will cost $344 Cdn. and a service
subscription will cost $13.95/month.
[1999/03/06]
Mar. 1, 1999, Business Wire reports that Compaq Computer Corporation has unveiled its Compaq Aero(R) 2100 pen based pocket size computer which uses a reflected light colour TFT screen. Compaq claims 10 hours of continuous use for its rechargeable Li-Ion battery. Compaq also claims a 44% larger screen than the 3Com PalmOS devices and a resolution of 240 * 320 * 256 colours (no specification given for colour range). This also marks the "Aero" sub-brand for "Compaq PC companion products."
Size: 5.25" * 3.34" * 0.78" (133mm * 85mm * 20mm)
Weight: 10.92 oz (260 g.) [not stated whether this includes batteries]
Available in 8MB and 16MB versions as follows:
8MB RAM, Standard cradle $449 US
16MB RAM, Standard cradle and applications CD $499 US
16MB RAM, Deluxe Carry Case, extra Li-Ion battery, application CD
and Deluxe Cradle $549 US.
[1999/03/06]
Mar. 1, 1999, Business Wire reports that Toshiba America
Information Systems, Inc. has introduced its Toshiba Satellite
2545 Series laptop computers which use a 333-MHz AMD Mobile K6-2
CPU with 3DNow!(TM).
[1999/03/06]
Mar. 1, 1999, Canada News Wire reports that Clearnet has
announced plans to open a new call centre in St-Laurent, Quebec
to serve Clearnet PCS and Mike customers. Partially funded
by Fonds pour l'accroissement de l'investissement prive et la
relance de l'emploi (FAIRE), a program of Investissement-Quebec,
no job figures were announced, but funding by FAIRE may
be as high as $1,34 million Cdn over the next year.
[1999/03/06]
Mar. 1, 1999, Business Wire reports that Compaq Computer Corporation
has announced price reductions on a number of desk and laptop
computers. Here are some sample prices:
Armada 1750, 366MHz Pentium II, 14.1" TFT screen, Windows 95,
reduced from $3,599 US to $3,299 US. With Windows NT reduced
from $3,699 US to $3,399 US.
Armada 7400, 266MHz Pentium II, 13.3" TFT screen, Windows 95,
reduced from 2,699 US to $2,499 US.
Armada 7400, 366Mhz Pentium II, 14.1" TFT screen, Windows NT,
reduced from $4,699 US to $4,499 US
[1999/03/06]
Mar. 1, 1999, Business Wire reports that AMD has announced its
Am29LV033 3.0 V. 32-Megabit flash memory device. Using 0.32
micron technology, the device is capable of access times up to
70 nanoseconds. AMD guarantees a minimum 1 million write cycles
and a 20 year data retention period. In a 40-lead TSOP package,
it is priced at $14.50 in quantities of 10,000. It is also
available in an 0.8mm 48-ball Fine pitch BGA (FBGA).
[1999/03/06]
I am announcing this attempt to change terminology, in part to get some feedback, and in part to remind myself of what I'm trying to do. I'm trying to break the habit of calling "desk" computers "desktop" computers. For some time now, I've been thinking that the term "desktop computers" needs to be retired, or at least used more accurately. The fact is that many of the "tower" and "minitower" format computers are used "on the floor" or in places other than on a desk. In fact, this is also true of horizontal computers. However, they are generally intended to be used by people sitting at a desk. So I think mostly, they should be called "desk" computers instead of "desktop" computers. I think one should only use the term "desktop" computers to describe computers designed in such a way that using them anywhere but on a desk would be inconvenient, or in cases where somebody is specifically using a computer on a desktop. For example, the Apple II had the keyboard integrated into the case. There wasn't much point in putting an Apple II anywhere but on a desk. Therefore, it was a true "desktop" computer.
Anyway, I hope I can break my habit of calling computers "desktop"
computers inappropriately. It is my goal to be clear and accurate.
If you think this is a good idea, you might suggest it to other
writers. Maybe if everybody else does it, then it'll be easier
for me. . . .
[1999/03/06]
Feb. 27, 1999, Responsive Database Services reports that according
to the New York Times, Feb. 25, 1999, Sony has announced its
Picturebook laptop computer which includes an embedded digital
camera. The camera can take still images or up to 60 sec. of
video. The estimated price is around $2,300 US. [Availability
is not mentioned.]
[1999/03/02]
Feb. 27, 1999, Responsive Database Services reports that Mary E.
Thyfault wrote for Information Week, Feb. 22, 1999, that IBM
has offered support for its virtual private network service which
includes multi-protocol tunneling with 40-bit Data Encryption
Standard and Radius Authentication Standard, on 3Com's PalmOS
and Windows CE such as the Hewlett-Packard HP660LX.
[1999/03/02]
Feb. 26, 1999, Lee Bruno writes for Data Communications that there is a new Web based security problem which affects Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Office 95 users. According to Bruno:
"A cyberthug sends an e-mail message with a Web-page attachment or pointer to a website which the offending code is embedded. Once the user clicks on it, the code can insert itself onto the desktop by using the call function in Excel and Word, according to Finjan in Santa Clara, Calif. The call function divides websites into sections known as frames and is widely used on Wall Street to capture data from financial applications.
Finjan recommends network managers install or upgrade desktop systems running Microsoft's Office 95 and 97 with Service Release 1 and then install Service Release 2, plus a patch to eliminate the call function (the software is available at http://officeupdate.microsoft.com/downloadDetails/xl97cfp.html).
For desktops running Internet Explorer version 4.x, users need to adjust security to the highest level; users of Navigator browsers from Netscape, . . . should install or upgrade to Navigator 4.5."
[My apologies for the extensive quote, but I read it, and on the
one hand, it sounds like something I heard before, and on the
other hand, I'm not entirely sure I understand the description
of the method.]
[1999/03/02]
March 1, 1999, Compaq Canada has announced the Windows CE 2.1 ("Professional") upgrade for its C-Series handheld computers (models 810 and 2010c sold in Canada).
The ROM upgrade costs $199 (Cdn) and is now available now.
[1999/03/02]
Unfortunately, most of the vendors of "pocketable" Windows CE 2.0 based handheld computers have not announced upgrades for Windows CE 2.1. The sole exception so far is Compaq. This put me in a position of having to decide how I intend to "cover" Windows CE 2.1 in the future. I have decided to buy a Compaq C-Series 2010c and use it with Windows CE 2.0 for a while, and then upgrade it later in the year to 2.1 "Pro". It was purely a decision based on price. A local store had them priced at $799.00 Cdn. (+15% taxes), probably on "clearance". There are no other 2.1 capable devices for under $1,300.00 Cdn., except perhaps the monochrome Compaq C-Series 810, which would have costed me about $750 Cdn. on special order.
It is sad to see the same mistake apparently being repeated by the computer industry. The first and second generation "pocketable" Windows CE handhelds were not well received. So almost all the companies seem to be abandonning the products in favour of the "pen" format devices in the pocketable sizes, and making larger format keyboard devices. If the Compaq turns out to be the last of its kind, it will, ironically, be a victor by shear persistance. I cannot recall any great praise given to it. Being an unexceptional product, aside from the current price, and the 2.1 software, there is a good chance that it too will fail, and that nobody will try this form factor again. If Psion continues to develop the Series 5, they might be the sole beneficiary of this trend. Now, with all the companies "piling on" the PalmPilot clone market, there's a good chance that those products might also see reduced profitability. Applying the current thinking, then all the new Windows CE "Palmtop" computers could be the next to disappear. So after a brief, but exciting period of diversification, we could end up, again, with almost nothing. I hope this isn't the case, but the history is there for you to see.
At any rate, I am determined to enjoy having my new Compaq
2010c, for at least as long as it is a relevant research
sample, and beyond.
[1999/03/02]
As you probably know, I find many of the awards given in this industry suspect. This is why I stopped publishing reports about them. However, I rarely have a chance to speak out about some of the truly superior products and achievements in this industry. So again, I've taken some time to consider what I've seen over the past year and identify those which stood out. My congratulations to all that I have noted as superior or significant.
Oh, and just to save you time, if you're just looking for an award
for "best laptop", forget it. I didn't give any such award this
year. There were numerous very nice laptop products. I particularly
liked products by Hewlett-Packard, IBM, NEC, and Toshiba, but even
these I couldn't say were really outstandingly better than some other
companies I could name.
Mobile Products and Achievements Awards 1998
[1999/02/27]
Reposted with spelling correction.
[1999/02/28]
I'm breaking from my normal practices and reporting this directly from press releases from 3Com in Canada, IBM in Canada, an article from Newbytes, Feb. 23, 1999 and some of my own research. The short story is that 3Com has announced the Palm IIIx, which, functionally is similar to a Palm III but with 4MB RAM, a slightly improved ROM (version 3.1), a better screen (apparently more contrasty), and a new expansion slot. The cost is $549.00 Cdn. The also announced its new Palm V which is the same functionality of the older Palm III but in a new slimmer metal case and a built in rechargeable battery, and the 3.1 ROM for $679 Cdn. IBM has announced the same two units (IBM WorkPad 30x is the 3Com Palm IIIx and IBM WorkPad 3c is the 3Com Palm V) but with different software packages that integrate better with "enterprise" software such as Lotus Notes.
My discussions with IBM lead me to another difference. While 3Com will currently continue to sell both the PalmPilot Professional (reduced in price to $299 Cdn.) and the Palm III (reduced to $449 Cdn.), IBM will, apparently, be discontinuing the WorkPad 20x (their version of the Palm III). I think this would be a mistake, though not a horrible one. I can imagine an IP manager wanting to outfit a number of workers with Palm devices who simply would have not need for the Palm IIIx and appreciating the lower price of the older Palm III. In those cases, they can still get the 3Com version, or perhaps IBM would give a special discount price for the Palm IIIx.
According to Newsbytes, another interesting development is that IBM
will be exclusively selling a Japanese version in Japan. In
discussions with 3Com it was felt that it made more sense for IBM to
sell this version rather than 3Com because IBM has a better "market
presence" in Japan. This is a fairly meaningless comment, which I
can only guess refers to brand recognition, or more extensive sales
and support infrastructure in place. At any rate, those of you who
have followed this Webzine for a long time will know that I do try to
keep track of the scene in Japan, and I would like to find a way to
scrounge this Japanese WorkPad IIIx. Ironically, though they are
quite inexpensive, I still haven't bought a PalmOS device for long
term testing. I again plan to do so "this year."
[1999/02/27]
Feb. 23, 1999, PR Newswire reports that Karrier Communications'
IntelliGolf software is now available in two new versions for
Windows CE "Palm-size PC" devices such as the Philips Nino
and Everex Freestyle. Previous versions have been released
for the PalmOS devices such as the Palm III. Prices are $29.95 US
for the "Par" edition and $39.95 for the "Birdie" edition which
adds data transfers.
http://www.intelligolf.com/
[1999/02/27]
Feb. 23, 1999, PR Newswire reports that Nortel Networks has demonstrated
an "end to end" GSM over IP network at the GSM World Congress in
Cannes, France. Nortel claims voice quality comparable to today's
GSM voice quality.
[1999/02/27]
Feb. 23, 1999, Canada News Wire reports that Samsung has licensed
Unwired Planet's WAP UP.Browser(TM) microbrowser. for use with
Samsung GSM handsets and planned demonstrations using its
SGH-800 handset at the Cannes GSM World Congress Feb. 23 - 25,
1999.
[1999/02/27]
Feb. 22, 1999, Business Wire reports that Hewlett-Packard Company
has announced its new MGA-72543 low noise GaAs PHEMT (pseudomorphic
high electron mobility transistor) monolithic RS integrated circuit
(RFIC) amplifer in the ultra-small, four-lead SOT-343 package, aimed
at CDMA handsets. Units are immediately available at $1.50 US
in quantities from 10,000 to 24,999.
[1999/02/27]
The other day, the AC adapter for my Clearnet Sony handset broke. More specifically, one of the hooks that attach the cable to the bottom of the handset broke off. In fact, I can still use the charger, but it needs to be taped to the bottom of the handset to be certain of maintaining contact. I dropped into a "Bell Mobility" store and picked up a new charger (Type QN-001AC, part number 65-46746-3) which happens to be the same as one used by a Sony handset that Bell Mobility uses. The store was Excell Communications 939 Lawrence Ave. East, Don Mills. They charged me $69.95 + taxes.
Being curious, I called Clearnet today to see if the original charger was under warranty. It wasn't. They gave me a recommendation to go to Alcom Enterprises, Unit 104, 5050 Dufferin St. I called them and they quoted me $60.00 for the same part. . . .
"Your milage may vary."
[1999/02/24]
Feb. 20, 1999, Responsive Database Services reports that Mark LaPedus
wrote in Electronic Buyers News, Feb. 15, 1999, that Qualcomm Inc.
has announced a contract with IBM Microelectronics to license its
Silicon Germanium technology and with Matsushita Electronics Components
Co. Ltd. to co-develop RF modules.
[1999/02/23]
Feb. 19, 1999, Canada News Wire Reports that Nortel Networks has
announced completion of packet-switched, mobile video conference
calls and high speed web browsing at transmission rates up to
384Kbps over W-CDMA radio technology.
[1999/02/23]
Feb. 18, 1999, Canada News Wire reports that Clearnet Communications
Inc. has announced fully digital Clearnet PCS service in Barrie,
Ontario. Digital coverage is fully continuous up the Highway 400
corridor to Barrie.
[1999/02/23]
Feb. 18, 1999, Infowave Software, Inc. has announced a new release
of its "Infowave Office Enabler(TM)" (version 2.6) software for
integration of Microsoft Exchange messaging to wireless access.
[1999/02/23]
Feb. 18, 1999, Business Wire reports that Motorola has developed
it's new MRF19000 series ultra linear power amplifier for IS-95
(CDMA) 1.9 GHz application. The "RF LDMOS" devices give 50%
improvement in single-ended power, a 25% improvement in efficiency,
and superior gain. Electro-static discharge protection is built in.
MRF19090 low volume pricing is $180.00 US. Samples are available
now.
[1999/02/23]
Feb. 18, 1999, Business Wire reports that IBM has agreed with
Red Hat to work together on supporting Linux on various IBM products.
IBM Thinkpads are specifically mentioned as target platforms.
[I haven't searched every announcement to make sure of this, but I
believe this is the first major manufacturer to announce a specific
goal to develop or support a laptop computer version of Linux.
There has been at least one previous "commercial" Linux ports for
laptops (an NEC laptop), but I think it was only a small distributor.]
[1999/02/23]
Feb. 17, 1999, PR Newswire reports that Apple Computer, Inc., Compaq
Computer Corporation, Matsushita Electronic Industrial Co., Ltd.
(Panasonic), Royal Philips Electronics, Sony Corporation and Toshiba
Corporation have announced support for IEEE 1394 ("Firewire") high
speed digital interface and the formation of a Patent pool to simplify
licencing.
[1999/02/23]
Feb. 17, 1999, Reuters reports that Motorola Inc. hsa entered into
and agreement with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (NYSE: TSM)
to fulfill overflow orders of Motorola products. It also give
Motorola access to TSMC-developed technology. Motorola plans to
outsource about 35% of its semiconductor products by the year 2002.
Joint ventures will cover another 15% for a total of 50% of production
not substantially produced by Motorola.
[1999/02/23]
Feb. 16, 1999, Canada News Wire reports that Zi Corporation (TSE: ZIC)
and Ericsson Mobile Communications AB have introduced new Chinese
language support for mobile phones. The "Ericsson Chinese language
technology" incorporates the "Zi 8 Input System" for inputting Chinese
text into phonebook entries or short messages, using the keypad on
the phone. It supports 3 input methods: stroke/component, Pinyin
and Bopomofo. According to Bo Albertson [apparently from Ericsson]
"[d]uring 1998 China was the largest single market for Ericsson. . . ."
[1999/02/20]
Feb. 16, 1999, Alan Zeichick writes for Internet Week that the Fujitsu
LifeBook E Series laptop computers are a full featured series for
"high end" users. 12.25" * 9.75" * 2" and 7 lbs. w/one battery is
largish by todays standards. List price for E350, 300MHz, 13.3"
display, 32 MB RAM, 5GB HD, $3,299 US.
[1999/02/20]
Feb. 8, 1999, Eileen Colkin and Natalie Engler write for Information
Week that Hewlett-Packard has announced its new XE "low cost" laptop
computer.
OmniBook XE, 6.4 lb., including 56Kbps modem, 24x CD-ROM drive and
floppy drive, priced starting at $1,499 US. Options include 266MHz,
300MHz or 333MHz Pentium II (sic), 266MHz mobile Celeron, 4.1 GByte
or 6.2 GByte HD, 32 or 64MB RAM, optional port replicator.
[1999/02/20]
Feb. 13, 1999, Newsbytes reports that Apple has reduced prices for
PowerBook G3 laptop computers.
PowerBook G3 233MHz, 32MB RAM, reduced from $2499 US to $2299 US.
PowerBook G3 266MHz, 64MB RAM no change ($2799 US).
PowerBook G3 300MHz w/DVD reduced from $4,399 US to $3699 US.
[1999/02/16]
Feb. 11, 1999, Reuters reports that Motorola Inc. and Siemens AG
announced that they will revive their plan to begin production
on 300mm wafer equipment. The 50% larger wafer surface area
is expected to reduce costs by about 30%. Production will be
at a $3 billion US plant in Virginia.
[1999/02/16]
Feb. 10, 1999, Kimberley Caisse writes for Computer Reseller News
that 3Com has purchased Smartcode Technologie in Montpellier, France,
a wireless data-communications company that has developed Internet-
access software, including system extensions, communications protocol
stacks and end user applications, supporting GSM and CDMA. 3Com says
that Smartcode's wireless capabilities will be added to the Palm
Computing platform.
[1999/02/16]
I finally got around to doing a little work on "The Book". The
last work was done on May 31, 1998, and that was still integrating
material from Aug. 1997. I have to admit, it felt good, yet
frustrating at the same time. Hopefully I'll get more done soon.
[1999/02/16]
Feb. 9, 1999, PR Newswire reports that Northern Telecom Limited's John
Roth has announced the component goals which together make up
Nortel Networks "Mobile Webtone" initiative, which he says will
"put the net in your pocket."
1. a single, consistent network architecture for telephony and data
communications.
2. reduction of facilities costs through distribution of access,
transportation and switching functions using packet routers and switches.
3. reduction of OA&M costs through consolidation of service and
management functions.
4. end-to-end carriage of voice payload in compressed form from a
reduction in network elements and circuit-switched links.
5. migration of new service development and control functions to
commercially available, IP-based computer platforms.
One overall goal will be reduction of "the operator's total cost per
megabit in a typical mobile network from 37 cents today to only 4 cents
within five years."
[1999/02/13]
Feb. 9, 1999, Business Wire reports that Motorola has allied with
Cerulean Technologies, Inc. to enhance Motorola's Private DataTAC(TM)
network offerings by adding Cerulean's PacketCluster product suite
adding "real-time bi-directional, wireless access to information
with security and reliability . . . ."
[1999/02/13]
Feb. 9, 1999, Reuters reports that an agreement has been reached between
GSM carriers and TDMA carriers to support dual mode TDMA/GSM multimode
handsets in the US.
[1999/02/13]
Feb. 9, 1999, Canada News Wire reports that JAWS Technologies Inc.
claims to have solved a security weakness in Microsoft Outlook 98
where a reply to an encrypted message is not encrypted. JAWS offers
JAWS L5 E-Mail Encryption.
http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,31461,00.html Outlook Problem
http://www.jawstech.com/
[1999/02/13]
Feb. 9, 1999, M2 Communications reports that Nokia has announced new
model handsets for use with TDMA and CDMA systems. The Nokia 6185 is dual
mode CDMA/analogue (available Q1, 1999), 5170 is for CDMA 1900, 5180 for
CDMA 800 and AMPS (both available Q2, 1999) and Nokia 8800 will have TDMA
and CDMA models in Q3, 1999.
[1999/02/13]
Feb. 8, 1999, Canadian Corporate News reports that Motorola Inc. and
Starfish Software Inc. have introduced the Motorola StarTAC(R) Mobile
Organizer at WTIA Wireless 99 in New Orleans. This accessory attaches
to the back of Motorola STarTAC cellular phones and adds PIM functions,
including synchronization with Yahoo! Calendar & Address Book,
Microsoft(R) Outlook(R), Lotus Organizer(R), Lotus Notes, ACT!(TM),
Sidekick(R), Palm III and REX PRO(TM). The StarTAC Mobile Organizer
weighs about 2.3 oz. and is expected to be available in Q2 1999 for
under $250 US.
[1999/02/13]
Feb. 8, 1999, Business Wire reports that Motorola has demonstrated the
iDEN(R) i1000plus(TM) wireless handset with internet browser at CTIA
Wireless '99 in New Orleans. On top of previous iDEN capabilities
it uses the Unwired Planet WAP "micrbrowser" for internet use, and can be
connected to a laptop computer for PDA. The i1000plus is 115 * 56 * 30 mm
and weighs 142 g. with a slim Lithium Ion battery (estimated 180 min.
talk time or 60 hours standby time).
[1999/02/13]
Feb. 8, 1999, PR Newswire reports that Sprint PCS and Motorola Inc. have
demonstrated wireless video teleconferencing over cdma2000 based signals
at 128kbps transmission speeds.
http://www.motorola.com/
http://www.sprintpcs.com/
[1999/02/13]
Feb. 8, 1999, Newbytes writes that Cisco Systems, Inc. and Motorola Inc.
have formed a strategic alliance to develop IP based integrated voice,
data and video services over cellular networks.
[1999/02/13]
Feb. 8, 1999, Jennifer Hagendorf writes for Computer Reseller News that
according to Dataquest, worldwide shipments of handheld computers reached
3.9 million units in 1998. 3Com shipped 1.6 million units (40.1% market
share, 57% more than 1997). Sharp Electronics shipped 828,000 (20.8% market
share, 67.4% over 1997). Psion, HP and Philips were 3rd, 4th and 5th
respectively. 41% of handheld devices shipped in 1998 used PalmOS, 25%
used Windows CE and 13% used Psion EPOC32.
[1999/02/13]
Feb. 5, 1999, Madeleine Acey writes for TechWeb that both Britain's
Safeway supermarkets (no longer related to the North American company)
and its rival Tesco are testing shopping assisted with handheld
computers, based on the PalmPilot series devices. The systems
are different (the Safeway system is based on the Symbol PalmPilot
based device with integrated barcode reader and the Tesco is closely
tied to a PC) but the PalmPilot device is common to both.
[1999/02/09]
Feb. 4, 1999, Canada News Wire reports that Rogers Cantel Mobile
Communications Inc. (RCM) has released its 1998 Q4 results. Numbers
released Jan. 12 have not changed. Churn rate was 2.06%, up from
1.83% in Q4 1997 and 1.87% in Q3 1998. Also average revenue per
unit has dropped from $57.61 in Q4 1997 to $52.62 in Q4 1998, a
reduction of 8.7% compared to Q4 1997, which RCM attributes to more
competitive plans and prepaid cellular.
[1999/02/09]
Feb. 3, 1999, Business Week reports that Hewlett-Packard Company has
announced price reductions for its laptop computers.
HP OmniBook 7100 266MHz Intel Pentium II, 8.1GB HD, 32MB RAM, 14.1" XGA
TFT screen, CD-ROM and floppy, $3,199 US.
HP OmniBook 4150 300MHz Intel Pentium II, 6.4GB HD, 64MB RAM, 14.1" XGA
TFT screen, 24X CD-ROM drive, $3,399 US.
http://www.hp.com/
[1999/02/09]
Feb. 3, 1999, Canada News Wire reports that Rogers Cantel has announced
new pricing for "international calls" for wireless services. "Pay
As You Go" customers can now call to Australia, France, Germany, Hong
Kong, Israel, Italy, Sweden and the UK for $0.75/minute, Japan for
$1.00/minute, and China for $1.50/minute. Rogers Cantel also announced
that long distance rates to 21 destinations around the world have also
been reduced for "post paid" plans from 36% to 80%.
[1999/02/09]
Feb. 2, 1999, Business Wire reports that according to Cahners In-Stat
Group, "flash - based digital film sales will grow rapidly to more than
797 thousand megabytes by 2002. Calculated average growth rate from
1998 to 2002 is expected to be 110% . . . ." [Presumably, the "797
thousand megabytes" is meant to be the sales for that year and not the
accumulated total from "today", and similarly the "110%" is an annual
growth rate. Neither is stated in the article.]
http://www.cahnerinstat.com/
[1999/02/06]
Feb. 2, 1999, John Gartner writes for TechWeb that Sony will be
introducing new version of their VAIO laptop computers. The
VAIO 505TS and VAIO 505TX which will be thinner and weigh about
2.7 lbs.
[1999/02/06]
Feb. 1, 1999, Business Wire reports that Hewlett-Packard Company has
announced the HP OmniBook XE "all-in-one" laptop computer which includes
floppy, hard and CD-ROM drives and is expected to sell for $1,499 US.
at 6.4 lbs., it includes a 56Kbps modem. Processors will include Intel
Celeron 266MHz to Intel Pentium(R) II 333MHz. [Availability was not
stated in the article.]
http://www.hp.com/omnibook/
[1999/02/06]
Feb. 1, 1999, TechWeb reports that Umax Technologies has announced
it s ActionBook 335T and 535T laptop computers starting at $1,599 US,
based on Advanced Micro Design's 350MHz K6-2 chip. Both will be
available later this month.
[1999/02/06]
Feb. 1, 1999, PR Newswire reports that Microsoft has announced a new version of Windows CE for "palm size" handheld computers with colour screens.
Feb. 1, 1999, Business Wire reports that Hewlett-Packard Company has
introduced the HP Jornada 420 HHC with colour screen and "designed-in
support for integrated paging services."
Size: 5.1" * 3.2" * 0.9"
Weight: 8.81 oz.
Screen: 320 * 240 * 256 colours
Price: $519 US.
Availability: North America in mid-February.
http://www.hp.com/jornada/
[1999/02/06]
Feb. 1, 1999, Business Wire reports that Motorola has claimed to be
the first to achieve successful fabrication of 0.1 micron "microprocessor
feature sizes using a standard 0.18 micron silicon process." Motorola
also announced an alliance with Numerical Technologies Inc. for
"subwavelength design and manufacturing." The process uses a "phase-
shifting technology" and "optical proximity correction" from NumeriTech.
http://www.numeritech.com/
[1999/02/06]
Jan. 29, 1999, Canada News Wire reports that Seagate Software has
announced availability of Clent Exec 2.0 which automates backup
of clients (either workstation or mobile) in an enterprise.
[1999/02/02]
Jan. 29, 1999, Peter Clarke writes for EE Times that Sony Computer
Entertainment is preparing a "Pocket PlayStation" which will be
based on the ARM7TDMI RISC CPU. The controller was designed by Atmel
and is highly integrated. The product will actually be called the
"SCPH-4000 PocketStation" and is described as a "miniature PDA." It
will connect to a PlayStation for downloading games.
[1999/02/02]
Jan. 28, 1999, PR Newswire reports that OverDrive(R) Systems,
Microsoft(R) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology
announced support for Open eBook Standards. OverDrive Systems
announced OverDrive BookWorks(TM) which is based on Microsoft(R)
Internet Explorer Technologies and open formats including HTML
and XML.
http://www.overdrive.com/
[1999/02/02]
Jan. 28, 1999, Stephanie Green writes for Computer Reseller News that
a recent study based on interview of midsized businesses (100 - 999
employees) by Cahners In-Stat Group indicates growth of 17% per year
over the next 5 years for the wireless communications industry (including
services and equipment such as cellular phones, wireless data and PDAs.
[1999/02/02]
Jan. 27, 1999, Business Wire reports that IBM has introduced radio
frequency based asset tracking for their new ThinkPad 770Z and 600E
laptop computers. Unauthorized removal of the ThinkPad will cause
it to become password protected.
[1999/02/02]
Jan. 27, 1999, Business Wire reports that Hewlett-Packard Company has announced support for RedHat Linux on its Intel(R)-based NetServer systems beginning with RedHat 5.2 and an intention to port Linux to IA-64.
[While this is clearly not a "mobile" issue, I think the article
shows that Linux is becoming a more highly regarded system in general
and as such is becoming a realistic option for all computers currently
designed for Windows 95/98/NT -- which includes most laptop computers.]
[1999/02/02]
Jan. 25, 1999, Business Wire reports that Compaq has announced its latest laptop computers. Armada lines now include 333Mhz and 366MHz Pentium II CPUs. Two new product families are the Armada 1750 and 1500c series. The Armada 1500c features 266 or 300MHz versions of the Intel Mobile Celeron(TM) CPU.
Also introduced were Presario 1900 and 1600i series and Prosignia
Series with latest Intel Pentium II CPUs.
[1999/01/30]
Jan. 25, 1999, Andy Patrizio writes for TechWeb that Intel has
introduced 333MHz and 366MHz versions of Mobile Pentium II CPUs
and 266MHz and 300MHz version of Mobile Celeron CPUs. Intel
is also planning to introduce Mobile Pentium III CPUs this year
with 100MHz IO-busses.
[1999/01/30]
Jan. 25, 1999, Business Wire reports that Gateway has announced the
latest version of their Solo laptop computers using the latest
300MHz, 333MHz and 366MHz Intel Mobile Pentium II and 300MHz Intel
Celeron CPUs.
[1999/01/30]
Jan. 25, 1999, Business Wire reports that Hewlett-Packard Company
has announced the latest versions of the OmniBook 4150 and OmniBook 900
portable computer using Intel Pentium II 366MHz CPUs. [This is probably
an error since they are probably using Mobile Pentium II's -- not the
"desktop" versions of the CPUs.]
[1999/01/30]
Jan. 25, 1999, PR Newswire reports that Motorola and Sun have announced
intentions to work together to integrate Sun's Jini(TM) and Motorola's
Piano project. The Piano project is an automatic proximity based
networking system which initializes networking when devices are brought
into close physical proximity. Sun's Jini extends Java to make use
of such a system. The Piano system can be used with any wireless or
infrared technology and is currently focussed on Bluetooth.
[1999/01/30]
Jan. 25, 1999, Reuters reports that MIPS Technologies Inc. has said
that NEC Corp. and Toshiba Corp. have secured licenses for its next
generation 64-bit RISC CPU design code named "Ruby" which is projected
to have 1 billion instruction per second capabilities.
[1999/01/30]
Jan. 23, 1999, Newsbytes reports that Grotech Capital Group and
Alliance Technology Ventures have announced the "HWN system" home
wireless network system based on a $239.99 US wireless controller.
Handsets cost $139.99 and "wireless jacks" cost $119.99.
http://www.homewireless.com/
[1999/01/26]
Jan. 23, 1999, Newsbytes reports that starting with the Pentium III,
Intel Corp. will commence production of 0.18 micron chips in 1999,
replacing its current 0.25 micron process. Copper process will not
commence until around 2000 because of it would require Intel to
replace about 2/3's of its manufacturing equipment (for etching
and polishing). Intel expects 0.18 micron process to allow 32-bit
and 64-bit chips to exceed 800 MHz, and perhaps even achieve 1-GHz
with other technology breakthroughs.
[1999/01/26]
Jan. 21, 1999, Paula Rooney writes for Computer Retail Week that 3Com
will introduce the new Palm III X Feb. 23 at the price of the current
Palm III and cut the price of the existing Palm III to $299 US. The
Palm III X will have 4MB RAM, a new screen, and other changes. A
major redesign called the Palm V has no current release date.
[1999/01/26]
Jan 21, 1999, John Gartner writes for Tech Web that Toshiba and Hitachi
have announced notebook computer - size hard drives (2.5" platter) in
sizes over 10GB which use densities of over 6Gbits per square inch.
The Toshiba MK3212MAT (3.2GB) and KM6411MAT (6.4GB) are low profile
and the MK1011GAV (10GB) is higher profile and will ship in Q1 1999.
The Hitachi GB DK-239A-65 (6.49GB) and DK229A-10 (10GB) will also
ship in Q1 1999. According to Peripheral Research, IBM has 35% market
share in 2.5" HD's and Toshiba is next with 18%.
[1999/01/26]
Jan. 21, 1999, PR Newswire reports that Microsoft Corp. has released
patches for security holes in Microsoft Word 97 and Microsoft Forms
Version 2.0 ActiveX(R) Control.
[1999/01/26]
Jan. 20, 1999, PR Newswire reports that Geoworks Corporation and
Optimay GmbH (a subsidiary of Lucent Technologies) have announced
that they will collaborate on developing a reference design for
advanced GSM handsets. The reference design will use Geoworks'
Premion(TM) Interface+(TM) graphical user interface and Optimay's
GSM Phase 2 Protocol Stack.
http://www.optimay.com/
[1999/01/26]
Jan. 20, 1999, PR Newswire reports that the Wireless Application Protocol
Forum has announced that seven companies have become members. The
new members are Hewlett-Packard Company, Oracle Corporation, Toshiba
Corporation, Bussan Systems Integration Company, Tokyo Digital Phone,
Glenayre Technologies Inc. and One 2 One, bringing the total to
78 members. Also announced was the next meeting which will be held
Feb. 1 - 5, 1999 in Fort Worth, Texas.
http://www.wapforum.org/
[1999/01/26]
Jan. 20, 1999, Associated Press reports that Nichia Chemical Industries
Ltd. has developed a commercially viable short-wavelength "blue" laser.
Based on gallium nitrides the laser produces a beam in the wavelength
range of 400 nanometers. The low budget development was headed by
Shunji Nakamura.
[1999/01/26]
Jan. 19, 1999, Research In Motion Limited (RIM) has announced
its "BlackBerry(TM)" wireless email system which integrates a
two way alphanumeric pager with Microsoft(R) Exchange on a
PC. In Canada, it works on the Cantel AT&T Mobitex system.
BlackBerry Handheld unit: Intel 386(TM) CPU, 2MB Flash memory, 2 Watt
transmitter, thumbwheel and alphanumeric keyboard, 3.5" * 21.5" * 0.93",
1 AA battery, triple-DES encryption, email and organizer software.
[1999/01/23]
Jan. 18, 1999, Canada News Wire reports that Rogers Cantel Inc.
will commence bi-directional text messaging between the Internet and
the Research In Motion (RIM) Inter@ctive(TM) Pager 950 on Feb. 1, 1999.
Delivery of messages from the Internet through the Cantel AT&T Mobitex
network takes about 10 seconds.
[1999/01/23]
Jan. 16, 1999, Responsive Database Services reports that according to
Automatic I.D. News, January 1999, General Magic has spun off its
DataRover division. DataRover Mobile Systems' current product is
the 840 handheld penbased computer which uses MagicCap 3.1 software.
"Net-strategy" of Toronto is the distributor for North America.
[1999/01/19]
Jan. 16, 1999, Newsbytes reports that Panda Software has developed
a fix for the "W2000M/PSD" virus that infects documents loaded
into Microsoft Office 2000 and hides the content from the user.
This virus was developed despite the fact that Microsoft Office
has not even been released yet -- it is expected to be released
next month.
[1999/01/19]
Jan. 15, 1999, Canada News Wire reports that Clearnet Communications
Inc. has announced a new option. Unlimited evening usage can be added
for $15 (Cdn) per month. [It is not clear by this article whether it
is necessary to also have the $10 (Cdn) per month weeks option or whether
this can be obtained separately.]
[1999/01/19]
Jan. 14, 1999, Canada News Wire reports that Nortel Networks and British Telecommunications plc has announced the trial of a prototype 3G/Universal Mobile Telecommmunications System (UMTS) components at BT's research centre in Martlesham, Suffolk.
Jan. 13, 1999, Business Wire reports that AMD has announced a low power Mobile AMD K6(R)-2 processor family with 3DNow!(TM) technology. Current speeds are 333MHz, 300MHz and 266MHz. Socket 7 is supported, as is Super7(TM) which features 100MHz frontside bus and AGP graphics. Mobile Super7 chipsets are available from ALi and VIA. The Mobile K6-2 operates with a core voltage of 1.8V and dissipates less than 8W running typical applications. They are built using 0.25-micron five-layer-metal process technology. Prices in 1,000 unit lots is $299 US for 333MHz, $187 US for 300MHz and $106 US for 266MHz. All are immediately available.
Toshiba has announced the Satellite 2520 which uses a 300MHz K6-2
with 64MB RAM, a 12.1" TFT screen, 4.3GB HD and 24X CD-ROM drive
and is immediately available in Japan.
[1999/01/19]
Jan. 13, 1999, Business Wire reports that according to Compaq, the
British Advertising Standards Authority has rejected an earlier complaint
about Compaq's advertising claim to be Y2K ready. Although the Authority
recognized that the hardware still has a real-time clock that has not
been designed for Y2K usage, the corrections in the BIOS was sufficient
since "virtually all commercially available software took the date from
the BIOS and direct interrogation of the RTC was generally discouraged."
[1999/01/19]
Jan. 12, 1999, Business Wire reports that Motorola has announced
that it has licensed Citrix Systems, Inc.'s Independent Computing
Architecture (ICA(R)) for use in Motorola's digital wireless
devices. Motorola plans to use the technology first with iDEN(R)
integrated handsets which will be enabled to access Citrix
WinFrame and MetaFrame servers, for e-mail, files and database
information.
[1999/01/17]
Jan. 12, 1999, Canadian News Wire reports that Clearnet Communications Inc. claims the following results:
Net Additions Net Additions
3 Months Ending 3 Months Ending
Dec. 31, 1998 Dec. 31, 1997
--------------- ---------------
Digital 65,770 65,575
- Mike 26,352 14,899
- PCS 39,418 50,676
Analogue SMR (7,468) (2,983)
Total 58,302 62,592
Total as at Total as at
Dec. 31, 1998 Dec. 31, 1997
------------- ---------------
Digital 308,473 95,225
- Mike 114,095 44,549
- PCS 194,378 50,676
Analogue SMR 40,532 56,587
Total 349,005 151,912
Jan. 11, 1998 Canadian Corporate News reports that BCE Mobility
Communications Inc. announced preliminary subscriber results for
the 4th quarter 1998. Cellular and PCS activitations were 187,000
which is up 63% from 115,000 reported in Q4 1997 and 65,000 pager
activations were up 16% from 56,000 in Q4 1997. The company
also claims a Q4 churn rate of 1.4%, up from 1.0% of Q4 1997 but
"consistent" with the first 3 quarters of 1998. The total number
of cellular and PCS customers at the end of 1998 was 1,475,000
which is an increase of 128,000 from Sept. 30, 1998 and 254,000
(21%) over the end of 1997. Pagers active at the end of 1998
were 542,000 which is and increase of 14,000 from Sept. 30, 1998
and 67,000 (14%) more than Dec. 31, 1998. Unaudited Q4 results
are due on Jan. 22, 1999.
[1999/01/17]
Jan. 11, 1999, Business World reports that in its Dec. 7 issue, Federal Computer Week has found the Gateway Solo 2500LS has better battery life than its competitors: "huge battery ran for four hours and 30 mintues - more than an hour longer than the second place finisher." A number of other magazines were quoted or referred to, with similar expressions.
[I want to take this opportunity to again point out that I am not convinced that any of these magazines do a very good job of testing and reporting on batteries. That includes my own tests and reports. I have stated this before and given some of my numbers and analysis.
Specifically in the case of Lithium batteries, aside from the combustibility problems, it is now fairly widely known that LiIon batteries don't seem to take well to being fully cycled. So even if you have a battery capable of 4.5 hours, you won't want to use it anywhere near that long -- unless you are rich enough to buy a stack of batteries to replace them with if they go bad. A proper test of LiIon batteries should therefore include *multiple* cycles with a number of different discharge/recharge patterns. This would take months, and it is possible that the batteries tested might not even be in use by the time such a test were properly completed.
I think most of us in the industry honestly try to do the best we
can in these tests. But 10 "big name" testers, all doing the same
badly designed tests, don't give you better information than 1 guy
performing the proper tests. And in this case, I don't even know
of "1 guy" doing proper tests.]
[1999/01/17]
Jan. 8, 1999, Canada News Wire reports that Microcell has claimed
that they have added 101,336 new customers in Q4 1999 including
61,941 using the Fidomatic(TM) prepaid service. Microcell claims
282,174 subscribers as of Dec. 31, 1999 (compared to 65,667 on
Dec. 31, 1998). According to Microcell, this exceeds Microcell's
goal of 200,000 users by 41%. Microcell also claims an improved
"post-guarantee-period" average churn rate of 2.0% for Q4.
[1999/01/12]
Jan. 8, 1998, Newsbytes reports that IBM, Siemens and Toshiba have
jointly developed DRAM based on 0.18 micron technology Production
of chips (64 Mbit and 128 Mbit) will commence in late 1999. Toshiba
projects cost savings in the range of 20% due to reduced silicon
surface area.
[1999/01/12]
Jan. 7, 1999 PR Newswire reports that IBM has introduced two new
ThinkPad i Series models, available now and priced from $2,499 (Cdn).
The new models feature 300 MHz Intel processors, hard drives up to
4.3 GB, TFT active matrix displays up to 13.3-inches, "improved"
Altec Lansing Audio, and external CD controls.
[1999/01/12]
Jan. 7, 1999, TechWeb reports that NEC has begun shipping its new
MobilePro 770 handheld computer which is smaller than the MP-750,
has 32MB RAM and 24MB ROM. It weighs about 10% less than the
earlier version.
[1999/01/12]
Jan. 7, 1999, PR News Wire reports that Motorola has announced
for its SC3160 (800 CDMA/AMPS) "entry level" phone. Motorola
expects availability in Q1 1999. The new device will weigh
about 5.4 oz. with 280 min digital mode talk time or 120 hours
standby, a 4 line alphanumeric LCD display with icons and
either an 8 kbps, EVRC or 13 kbps vocoder.
[1998/01/12]
Jan. 7, 1999, PR Newswire reports that Motorola has introduced its
new LS950v portable answering machine (voice messaging) device.
The size is about 40% smaller than the earlier version.
[1999/01/12]
Jan. 7, 1999, PR Newswire reports that Motorola has introduced its
new Bravo BR850 Pager which has memory for 60 messages and many
other convenience features such as 3 alarms, prioritizing and
"private time". At 2.4" * 1.7" and 1.8 oz. it is about 20% smaller
than previous versions.
[1999/01/12]
Jan. 7, 1999, PR Newswire reports that Motorola has introduced its
new SP1300 smart pager which includes PIM functions. The display is
capable of 9 lines of 27 characters or 6 lines of 20 characters
depending on the font used. It comes with 1MB of Flash memory
and 256KB of static RAM. Measuring 3.55" * 2.75" * 0.86", it weighs
about 4.59 lz. with batteries (AAA). Motorola plans availability
in Q3 1999 at a retail price of $249 US.
[1999/01/12]
Jan. 7, 1998, PR Newswire reports in two separate announcements
that Motorola has introduced its PF1500 Word Pager and LS350, LS550
and LS750 numeric pagers. The numeric pagers start at $69 US
(for the LS350) and culminate with the CP1250 "big screen" text
pager ($209 US) and PF1500 text pager which can hold 100,000 characters
of memory message at $219 US.
[1999/01/12]
Jan. 7, 1999, Canada News Wire reports that Bell Canada and Bell
Mobility have announced that new stores will be openned in Quebec
and Ontario called "Espace Bell(TM)" and "Bell World(TM)" which
will combine consumer marketing efforts for both wired and wireless
services. Older Bell Canada Teleboutique(TM) and Bell Mobility
locations will continue to provide their previous services during
the transition.
[1999/01/12]
Jan. 7, 1999, Canadian Corporate News reports that Siemens has announced
that its Gigaset 2420 .4GHz cordless communications system will be sold
by Office Depot. The Gigaset 2420 consists of a two-line desk station
with integrated answering machine and speaker phone, one cordless handset
with a 4 line * 16 char graphic display and a cordless handset charging
unit. It is expandable up to 8 cordless handsets. The basic system
costs $399 (US?) and additional handsets will cost $129 and chargers
are $19.95. The systems will be available beginning Jan. 1999.
http://www.siemenscordless.com/
[1999/01/12]
Jan. 7, 1999, Peter Clarke Writes for EE Times that Pete Magowan
of of ARM claims that ARM processor will be used in about 70% of
all digital mobile phones used this year.
[1999/01/12]
Jan. 6, 1999, Canada News Wire reports that Rogers Cantel claims to
have added 103,300 cellular phone subscribers in Q4 1998. As of
Dec. 31, 1998, the total number of cellular subscribers was 1,737,600
which is 185,500 (12%) more than Dec. 31, 1997. At the end of the
year, about 500,000 subscribers were on Digital PCS (about 29% of
RC's total cellular subscriber base) and 120,400 were using prepaid
cellular ("Pay as you go").
[1999/01/12]
Jan. 6, 1999, Herman Mehling writes for Computer Reseller News that
ISP Concentric Networks and Wavepath offer 384-Kbps wireless internet
connectivity through "iSeed Concentric Wireless" service. It will
be available first in the San Francisco Bay area. The service will
cost $150 US per month.
[1999/01/12]
Jan. 6, 1999, Jennifer Hagendorf writes for Computer Reseller News that
Microsoft plans to show colour Windows CE "palmtops" at the Consumer
Electronics show.
[1999/01/12]
Jan. 5, 1999, Business Wire reports that Compaq has announced upgrade
ROMs for the the C-Series handhelds (810, 2010c and 2015c) to
Window CE H/PC Professional Edition for $109 US.
http://www.compaq.com/products/handhelds/
[1999/01/09]
Jan. 5, 1998, Business Wire reports that Compaq has introduced new Presario 1900 Series, 1255 and 1260 laptop computers. A new feature is an "Easy Scroll" button which gives the Web page scrolling ability that has been available through new mouse products recently, and faster access to other internet related functions. The Presario 1900 weighs about 5 lbs. and is 1.2" thick and uses 13.3" TFT screens.
The Presario 1255 and 1260 have 333MHz AMK K6(R)-2 Processors, with
3DNow!(TM) technology. Prices start at $1,499 US.
[1999/01/09]
Jan. 4, 1999, Dow Jones reports that Research In Motion Ltd. (TSE: RIM)
will be added to the TSE300 and TSE200 stock indices beginning on Jan. 15,
1999. [While I am reporting less now on corporate developments than before,
this is significant because it shows the growing economic importance of
wireless based mobile information technology. Congratulations to all
involved!]
[1999/01/06]
The week after Christmas is generally empty of significant industry news.
This year was no exception. I hope you all had a good holiday and wish
you all the best for the coming year!
[1999/01/06]
Dec. 29, 1998, PR Newswire reports that Symantec Corporation has
announced that they have a repair kit that fixes the damage done
by the "Remote Explorer" virus. The virus compresses and encrypts
the files that are "damaged" so that the files can be recovered.
The kit is available for downloading for Symantec customers using
the "Intelligent Updater".
http://www.symantec.com/
[1999/01/02]
Unsorted Material From 2000. WARNING! VERY LARGE PAGE.
Pre - 1999 Unsorted Material. WARNING! VERY LARGE PAGE. News Page